City Manager Taken Ill, Mendosa Takes Over Arcata

Lame duck City Council meeting in closed session Wednesday to review situation

Humboldt Sentinel
12/2/08
By Charles Douglas

ARCATA -- With only a week to go in the terms in office of three out of five City Council members, their last moments in office provide time for just one more crisis.

City Manager Michael Hackett has taken medical leave while he undergoes treatment for an “undisclosed illness” according to a surprise release from the city late yesterday.

As of the moment his leave started, Arcata’s police chief, Randy Mendosa, has assumed executive authority over City Hall as the acting city manager -- even though the post has typically devolved to the director of Environmental Services, as it did during the interregnum between the retirement of Dan Hauser and the hiring of Hackett.

Mendosa’s time in power may be cut short by the lame duck majority on the Council, however, as a closed session meeting on who should serve as acting city manager will be held just before the regularly scheduled public Council meeting at 6:00 p.m.

The current Mayor, Mark Wheetley, will have to live with the decision either way, as he is mid-way through his four-year term this fall, along with Councilmember Alex Stillman. The outgoing Councilmembers are Paul Pitino, Michael Machi and Harmony Groves, with the newly elected Michael Winkler, Shane Brinton and Susan Ornelas set to take office on Dec. 9 at Noon, when a new Mayor will be elected from amongst the new Council for the coming year.

The city invites questions to be directed at this time either to Mendosa directly or the Arcata Police Department’s on-duty watch commander at (707) 822-2428.