Steve Hoefs said he had mixed emotions about his decision to step down as Avalon city manger. However, during the four years he had the position, he was not willing to give up his career with the fire service.
Steve Hoefs said he had mixed emotions about his decision to step down as Avalon city manger. However, during the four years he had the position, he was not willing to give up his career with the fire service.
In fact, he said essentially the same thing when he became city manager four years ago.
He did have an assistant fire chief who helped while he was performing his city manager duties, but he was content to be focusing on his fire service career.
“I have to say, I feel pretty darn good right now,” Hoefs said.
Hoefs, who about four years ago became Avalon’s part-time city manger, announced his decision to step down in early March. He will return to being the full time Avalon fire chief. He has held down both positions since he and part-time Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Wagner began sharing the city position following the 2009 retirement of Pete Woolson.
Hoefs said he is glad he took the city manager’s position, but it is a tough position and on Catalina Island it is a 24-hour a day, seven day a week position. He could not go to a store without encountering people asking him about the decisions he had made.
“You’re 100 percent immersed in the job,” he said.
He said he didn’t do a lot of things that he would have liked to do. Unfortunately, it was a time in the Avalon’s history when the city had to be more reactive than proactive—specifically, dealing with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board’s cease and desist order that compelled Avalon to upgrade its sewer system in order to improve the quality of the water in the bay.
“We brought ourselves (to) where we need to be,” Hoefs said, referring to the sewer infrastructure.
He described the cease and desist order as the biggest issue of his administration.
“We shouldn’t be behind in these issues,” he said.
Hoefs estimated that Avalon spent about $4 million on sewer infrastructure during his time as manager.
“I think we’ve made a ton of progress,” Hoefs said.
He said Avalon has a good relationship with the Water Board. According to Hoefs, Avalon has met or exceeded every requirement the board has laid out so far.
Avalon still has work to do to comply with the state agency’s order. For example, the Water Board order requires Avalon to implement a Sanitary Sewer Overflow plan by June of this year. By April 2016, there should be no beach closings or postings warning swimmers that the water might be unhealthy to swim in.
Hoefs believes the beach postings have had a negative influence on tourism to the Island.
Hoefs said the state began testing Avalon’s water on April 1 and he expected to see great improvement in the water quality.
One of the reasons he expects to see improvement is the falcon program, in which the city hired a falconry service to drive off nuisance birds whose waste was adding to the overall pollution of Avalon Bay.
Hoefs had originally come to the city manager position with plans that had nothing to do with the sewer system. He said he likes to think of ideas that make things better for everyone.
To read the entire interview, visit www.thecatalinaislander.com.
“My vision is to always be forward thinking,” he said.
He was proud of the city’s work to bring the motorcycle Grand Prix to Avalon, not only because it brought tourists and business to the Island during the off-season, but also because it gave Avalon a lot of exposure. He thought about brining other events to Avalon, too.
He was also proud of the falconry program.
He said two of the city’s major projects right now are the fuel dock and Mole restorations. The city has received a grant for the fuel dock project.
As to his successor, Denise Radde was recently named interim city manager and Hoefs believes the council is in the process of hiring a recruiter.
”It’s always tough,” Hoefs said, referring to finding a city manager for Avalon
Of course a candidate for the position will need a background in finance and government policy, but according to Hoefs 60 percent or more of the job is based on local knowledge. He said a new city manager would need about three months just to get to know the community.
He said Avalon has had managers in the past that lived on the Island and had children in the school here. They did well. However, he said, managers who came to the Island at the end of their careers who did not do so well.
He said his successor should be someone who works well with others. He said to be successful on Catalina, a city manager needs to work with the Santa Catalina Island Company, the Catalina Island Conservancy and the Chamber of Commerce.
“They are all somewhat inter-tangled and we need to work together,” Hoefs said.
He said a city manager needs to spend a lot of time building relationships with those groups.
“I believe we just live in a very unique community here,” he said.
