The recent announcement by City Manager Stephanie Dietz to leave her position later this year comes as no surprise to us.
What is a surprise, is how she has tolerated the abuse as long as she has.
Merced will be losing a superior class administrator. She will be very hard to replace.
We remember when she met with the Merced County Board of Realtors, and how frank she was in answering the questions they asked. The answers were concise and did not pull any punches.
Certain members of the Merced City Council need to be aware they can not treat top city employees like the old term “whipping boys.” We warned the city, no one will want to work for Merced if this continues.
Now we have to not only find a good Police Chief, but we need to find a good City Manager. We will not find as good a one as Stephanie Dietz, and this comes from someone who has watched 60 years of City Managers come and go.
Merced needs stability, and it needs stability now. The loss of people in the top administrative positions is bound to have a detrimental effect. And the possibility of an investigation by the state’s Attorney General into our Police Department — called for by a few of our own city leaders — is worrisome. Hopefully we can find a new Police Chief who is willing to take on the very difficult task ahead.
The search for a new City Manager is even more difficult as anyone coming to the City of Merced will look at the city’s past record.
Good people are hard to find. There will be a question of whether we hire from within the City Staff or look outside the city.
Long term, Merced has had a record of being a good city to work for; however, that record has been blemished, and job applicants will be aware of it.
What administrator will want to move into a city government which has a reputation of being a battleground?
Merced has a lot going for itself with its Community College and University. City schools are good, and we have beautiful places like Lake Yosemite and the mountains which surround it. The county government is relatively stable and listens to the will of the community.
However, our city government has a lot to learn about working together to get positive action.
We are sorry to see Stephanie Dietz leaving the city because we feel she has been an excellent City Manager, doing the very best she could, considering the circumstances.
We wish her the very best in her career.
Should she need a recommendation, she can give our name as a reference. She will be a benefit to any city, or government agency, or community organization she goes to work for.