Alameda Council To Vote On Appointing Interim City Manager

ALAMEDA, CA – The Alameda City Council will vote on Tuesday on a proposal to appoint former city of Orange fire chief and city manager David Rudat as interim city manager.

The proposal by Human Resources Director Nancy Bronstein calls for the city to hire Rudat to begin work on Aug. 6 and pay him $123.75 an hour while it searches for a permanent city manager to replace Jill Keimach, who quit in May after reaching a $945,000 separation agreement with the city.

The council put Keimach on leave on March 9 after it learned that she had secretly recorded two council members who she alleged had tried to pressure her to hire their choice for fire chief. The council later asked the Alameda County District Attorney's Office to review the secret recordings.

The council considered firing Keimach at a meeting on April 16 but instead voted to keep her on paid administrative leave.

Keimach's lawyer Therese Cannata said Keimach's tape recording of the meeting with the council members last Aug. 16 was legal under the state's penal code, which she said allows a person to tape record a conversation when she reasonably believes it will obtain evidence related to commission of certain crimes, including bribery, extortion and felony involving violence against the person.

Bronstein said Elizabeth Warmerdam served as acting city manager from May 15, when Keimach's employment ended, through June 30.

But she said Warmerdam then went on vacation and various city department heads temporarily served as acting city manager after that.

Bronstein said Warmerdam returned to the acting city manager job on Monday but without the benefit of having a contract. She said she recommends that Warmerdam be paid $123.75 an hour to continue as acting city manager through Aug. 5.

Former Alameda City Manager William Norton told the City Council at its April 16 meeting that it "has a very bad track record" because it has gone through seven city managers in 10 years.

Norton warned the council that if it fired Keimach it would have a hard time finding a replacement because city manager websites are full of discussions about the problems with serving in Alameda's top job.

In addition to serving as fire chief and city manager in Orange, Rudat has held top administrative positions in Stockton, Los Alamitos, and Modesto.

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--City News Service/Image via Shutterstock/charnchai_saeheng