Amador County – Ione City Council on Tuesday approved advertising to seek a permanent city manager, as Interim City Manager Jeff Butzlaff nears the last three months of his extended contract with the city.

Butzlaff said it takes the city right back to last September when he was hired for a six-month term, which was then extended six months as the city faced a Civil Grand Jury investigation, a $600,000 budget deficit and a reorganization of city staff that included benefit reductions and the partial retirement of five long-time employees.

The Council approved the advertisement wording for the permanent city manager search, and the content and approach. Butzlaff said it is kind of a “return to the future” and takes the city back to Sept. 6 when first put before them a request to extend the contract. His initial tenure was to be six months, but it was extended as the turmoil arose, including the recall election. He said the City Council wanted to wait until the end of that election, because it was seen as appropriate to wait until they see who would be on the council and whether it would change the makeup of the council.

The council authorized proceeding with the City Manager recruitment process beginning immediately. Butzlaff in a report said “from this point forward through June, we’ll have virtually the same amount of time for the City Manager recruitment/selection.” He said he sought to help make the process as “productive as possible in finding just the right candidate, the right fit, for the city of Ione at this time in its history” and he wanted to make the transition “as smooth as possible.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.