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After more than three months without a full-time top administrator, the Hollister City Council is set on Jan. 5 to consider appointing Ana Cortez as the next city manager on a four-year contract.
According to the employee agreement included in the agenda packet, Cortez, if approved, would begin Feb. 2 at a base salary of $265,000. The city will also contribute $2,200 annually to her retirement account.
If Cortez is terminated without cause, she is entitled to six months’ severance pay, including accrued vacation time, sick time and administrative leave time, as well as the cash value of long-term disability and employer share of health benefits for that same period.
The agreement defines “for cause” as the city manager failing to perform her duties and obligations, repeated unexcused absences, conviction of a felony or misdemeanor crime involving acts of moral turpitude, continued abuse of non-prescription drugs or alcohol and a breach of contract with the city.
“Ana Cortez has proven the ability to perform duties of the city manager position in a professional and competent manner,” the resolution in the council’s agenda packet states. However, the staff report does not include her employment history, which is customary.
BenitoLink reached out to Mayor Roxanne Stephens, her fellow council members and interim city manager Jim Pia to request Cortez’s employment history without success. Councilmember Rolan Resendiz referred BenitoLink to Pia.
Pia confirmed Cortez has worked as a city manager in the past but could not provide additional details.
It is unclear if Cortez is the same person who resigned as Carnation, Washington, city manager in 2024
According to the Snoqualmie Valley Record, that Ana Cortez resigned months after a third-party arbitrator ordered the city to reinstate four unionized employees with full back pay in a wrongful termination case.
The newspaper also reported she left with a $120,000 severance package.
In Helena, KRTV Great Falls reported she quit in 2020 after the Helena City Council approved terminating her.
According to the report, her resignation came weeks after she was placed on administrative leave for the second time in a year relating to staff complaints involving harassment. Although she was cleared of the allegations, an outside investigation recommended the city work on improving communications between Cortez and staff.
It adds the investigators said it appeared her management style had “‘created a rift between Cortez and many city staff.'”
According to a LinkedIn page for that Ana Cortez, she served as Carnation city manager for more than two years and later as a consultant for cities. She also previously served as city administrator for Leavenworth, Washington, from 2020 to 2021 and city manager for Helena, Montana, from 2019 to 2020.
In California, she served as public works manager for West Sacramento from 2015 to 2017 and as community development manager for Richmond from 2006 to 2014, for a combined 11 years.
The page adds that she has a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from UC Berkeley and a masters of public administration from the University of Washington.
Hollister was left without a full-time city manager after David Mirrione’s resignation and move to Merced to be an assistant county executive officer in September 2024. He served the city for three years as assistant city manager, interim city manager and city manager.
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