STOCKTON — Public documents show that Stockton Interim City Manager Steve Colangelo is authorizing $11,000 a month of city funds for an advisor.
The advisor is Lathrop City Manager Stephen Salvatore.
Stockton's District 3 representative, Michael Blower, the longest tenured city councilmember, says this news came as a shock.
"It does seem strange that you would hire someone for $20,000 a month, and then they would hire someone to help them do that job, at $11,000 a month," he said.
First reported by Stocktonia, public records show that just 10 days after being hired by the Stockton City Council, Colangelo hired Salvatore in an advisory role for up to six months.
Documents show that so far, the city has paid Salvatore $22,000 for two months.
The cost of having Salvatore in this agreement, however, could not exceed past $100,000 or it would have to go before the council.
"To find out about it through the media a few days ago, yeah, it was a surprise," Blower said.
"I think it's very important that we take our time and we make sure we put the right person into that particular position," Blower said during a February 4 meeting when the council was considering hiring Colangelo.
The council voted 4-3 to hire Colangelo as interim city manager, a split vote where Blower says the council should've looked at things more closely.
"The form of government that we have is, we're not a strong mayor setup. We're a strong city manager, so we really need a city manager with experience and background to run a large city," he said.
We tried to reach out to Colangelo as well as Salvatore. They did not return any emails or phone calls.
One of the yes votes to hire Colangelo was Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi. She sent CBS13 a statement calling Colangelo resourceful in outsourcing expertise:
"Steve Colangelo acted well within his authority to consult and contract services under his discretionary budget. I commend him for being proactive in tapping into the expertise of one of the region's most seasoned city managers." Mayor Fugazi said that is what Stockton needs to move forward and make progress.
"Bringing in a respected outside professional with a fresh set of eyes is a smart, necessary move to address complex challenges head-on," her statement continued. Colangelo is set to continue his role until at least August or until a permanent city manager is found.
The next council meeting is June 3. Some councilmembers say they are hoping to get more clarity on the matter during that meeting.
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