SEASIDE – After deciding to place Seaside City Manager Jaime Fontes on paid administrative leave last week following a closed-door session, the City Council appointed Police Chief Nick Borges as acting City Manager while the governing body decides what action to take next.
Mayor Ian Ogelsby said that he could not say why Fontes was put on paid administrative leave since it is a personnel matter.
Borges had been appointed acting city manager before when the city manager has been out of town and the Seaside City Council is comfortable with the appointment of Borges to the position, said Oglesby.
The city manager leads and coordinates city operations and takes direction from the five-member Seaside City Council.
With the city manager being on paid administrative leave, City Council will do an evaluation, Ogelsby said, and most likely discuss at a meeting currently slated for June 6. The council will then consider what action to take, he said.
“It may come up before, we don’t know, but it’s not going to be a months and months process,” said Oglesby.
The Mayor said he trusts the process the council is pursuing and is comfortable that the governing body will be sure to do the right thing according to the rules.
Borges said he was made aware of Fontes’ paid administrative leave early Friday morning and that City Council had selected him to temporarily fill in as the acting city manager. He said he has filled in for the city manager about six times before.
“I know who the key players are,” said Borges, who added that he has worked for the city for 21 years and considers his colleagues experts in their fields.
The police chief and the other key players meet weekly and though he may not have every answer to every question, he knows who to go to for the information sought.
Borges said he does not have a specific timeframe that he will be in the acting city manager role but expects it to be short.
“My role at the department I serve … that’s where I plan on staying,” he said. “It’s a temporary thing while the administrative process goes on.”
Borges said that through the lens of what he will be doing, his primary focus is to see the city moves forward, keeps projects on track, makes sure city staff gets what they need and moves to fill positions.
He said he has a strong management team in the police department to run day-to-day responsibilities while he is in his temporary role and will report to him.
“The chain remains the same,” said Borges. “I can focus on the needs of the city and the department for public safety for this short period of time.”
Borges stressed that he plans on doing the best he can to keep the city going in the right direction and considers it an honor to step into this temporary role.
Fontes began his work with Seaside in July, 2022, after prior City Manager Craig Malin resigned his post to spend more time with his family following COVID-19. During the search for his replacement, then Human Resources Director Roberta Greathouse stepped in as acting city manager.
Before signing on with the city of Seaside, Fontes was the East Palo Alto city manager which hired him in 2019, where he completed his three-year contract that ended on April 30, 2022.
In addition to his work with East Palo Alto, Fontes has served as city manager for Nogales, Arizona, and Santa Paula and Greenfield.
