Quick Take
At its meeting Tuesday, the Watsonville City Council will seek to appoint Assistant City Manager Tamara Vides, a seasoned bureaucrat, as interim city manager following the departure of Rene Mendez.
In 2021, when Watsonville began the search to replace its departing city manager, the city council looked toward Assistant City Manager Tamara Vides’ 23 years of experience in local bureaucracy to lead Watsonville’s government in the interim.
Vides went on to serve seven months in the executive role until the city hired Gonzales City Manager Rene Mendez to take over the reins. Now, less than two years later, Mendez is headed back to Monterey County as Salinas’ new chief executive, and Vides is, potentially, headed back to the interim city manager role. The Watsonville City Council will vote on whether to appoint her during its Tuesday meeting.
Vides, now a 25-year veteran of Watsonville’s city government, has served in the parks and recreation department and the city manager’s office. Vides told Lookout that while she expects the job to last only a few months, her plan is not just to simply to maintain the status quo, but also be ready to “dive into any new opportunities that come up for the community.”
“It’s time to step up again and keep things going for a while,” Vides said. “I didn’t think it would happen again so soon.”
Mendez announced his departure in March, after the Salinas City Council lured him back across county lines with a $300,000 base salary ($60,000 more than his Watsonville wage) and a larger organization to run. Mendez arrived in Watsonville after 17 years as Gonzales’ city manager. His last day with the city is scheduled for May 15.
Vides said she wasn’t sure whether she would throw her hat in the ring for the permanent city manager gig. However, she said she was “honored” by the opportunity to serve in the interim executive role again.
“It’s definitely a quick transition for the city,” Vides said. “It’s important that I bring stability during this time. I’m very confident that we will be more than OK.”
The city expects the search for a new chief executive to take six months.
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