Last Tuesday, Greg Zlotnick was a board member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District making about $230 per meeting. Today he is special counsel to district CEO Stan Williams at a salary of about $184,000 a year.
The newly created position was not advertised, and the other six board members of the district, which delivers water and flood control services for most of Santa Clara County, weren’t informed until June 28, when Zlotnick submitted his letter of resignation from the board.
The water district’s board is now discussing “revolving door” legislation that would prohibit the immediate hiring of directors.
Both Zlotnick and Williams, who hired him, are being roundly blasted by the media, district critics and open-government advocates for the move.
Zlotnick, a Palo Alto native who now lives in Mountain View, is an attorney well versed in California’s water issues, and has been a district director for more than a decade.
He said the hiring process was entirely above-board.
“I was given an offer. I decided to accept the offer. I am eminently qualified, and I can contribute more in the position than on the board,” Zlotnick said.
He said he was surprised by accusations that the hiring showed a lack of openness by the water district.
“We work very closely with people in the community and with various task forces,” he said. “We work with them, we listen and we collaborate.”
District CEO Williams said it was well within his authority as CEO to make the hire. He has control of 33 positions that are not represented by unions or bargaining units.
Williams said Zlotnick is not the first person to move between the district’s board and staff. Joe Pandit was a staff member who served on the board and then was rehired, Williams said.
Zlotnick’s hire is “unique,” however, Williams said. He was already representing the district in the Delta and state, but more was needed — Zlotnick needed to work full-time.
“He’s our best, the best person this county can have represent us in these discussions,” Williams said.
Mountain View City Council member Tom Means isn’t sure how the appointment will be beneficial locally.
“We lose a resident who was on the board. I don’t know if that helps us or hurts us,” he said.
Means said that although it probably would have been best to do at least a preliminary search before hiring Zlotnick, he can understand Williams’ decision.
“If you are in that hiring position, and here’s a guy who can do the job, you know him, and he’s better than anybody, you can see why” Williams hired him, Means said.
“In a perfect world I suppose you would always open the job to all applicants, but so many jobs are relationship-based jobs,” he said.
For his part, Zlotnick said he is moving beyond the controversy to focus on his new position, where he thinks he has a better chance to influence the topics that matter most to him, such as flood control along Permanente Creek.
“I can take a really hard look at things, I’ll be more engaged,” he said. “It’s a different dynamic when you’re a staff person working with another staff person, as opposed to a board member.”
The district is currently accepting applications for Zlotnick’s vacated position. Applicants must live in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Saratoga, Stanford or portions of Sunnyvale or San Jose. Applications are available at www.valleywater.org and are due by July 19.
The next director will be selected by the board and will serve until Dec. 31, 2008.
Additional reporting for this story was done by Rebecca Trout of the Palo Alto Weekly.
