Santa Rosa city manager wins Beverly Hills job

Santa Rosa City Manager Jeff Kolin is heading to Beverly Hills.

The Beverly Hills City Council Tuesday approved a five-year employment contract that will initially pay Kolin $291,500 a year in base pay and deferred compensation to take the leadership reigns of California's highest-end city.

His current Santa Rosa salary, including deferred compensation, is $230,000.

Kolin's starting date is Jan. 25. But he said he plans to remain in his Santa Rosa post through mid-January to help the city deal with the $8 million to $10 million budget.

“I think it's important for me to be here for that,” Kolin said.

The Beverly Hills contract includes an annual bonus based on job performance, four weeks of vacation, three week's worth of administrative leave and paid lifetime health and retirement benefits if the 57-year-old Kolin fulfills the five-year contract.”

“It was a generous offer. I am excited about the opportunity,” he said.

Kolin will replace Rod Wood, a former Novato city manager, who took the Beverly Hills job in 2004. Wood tendered his resignation shortly after last November's City Council election, effective this past Aug. 9.

Kolin will be moving into the 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom South Beverly Hills home originally purchased by Wood when he took the Beverly Hills' job.

Kolin said the initial plan is to rent the home, built in 1928, which the city purchased from Wood for $1.4 million.

His official hiring at Tuesday's Beverly Hills council meeting was sandwiched between angry protests by residents over the feeding of feral cats and an ordinance to prevent the declawing of felines.

Asked what are the main issues Beverly Hills faces, Kolin said “I will have to spend some time with the council and community to get a sense of what the issues are and what the challenges businesses see before I can answer that,” he said.

But Kolin said keeping a step ahead of increasing business competition from neighboring communities is one of the top issues.

Beverly Hills, despite a population of 36,000 — one-fifth the sized of Santa Rosa — has a city budget $50 million higher than Santa Rosa's, a budget largely fueled by revenue generated by Beverly Hills' businesses.

“The city has to work extremely hard to keep the brand fresh and alive in the marketplace. The city's quality of life is completely dependent on business revenues,” Wood said.

Kolin has been Santa Rosa's city manager since 2000 when he took over from Ken Blackman, who retired after 30 years as Santa Rosa's administrative leader.

Santa Rosa council members are in the midst of discussing names of potential candidates to replace Kolin on an interim basis until a search can be undertaken for a possible permanent successor.