Ray Corpuz, the former Tacoma city manager who is credited with helping to revitalize downtown but was fired in the wake of the David Brame scandal, has been chosen as the city manager of Salinas, Calif.
He’s leaving his current post as Seaside city manager, a job he landed about two years after his ouster in Tacoma. Not everyone on the Salinas City Council, or in the city, was pleased about the choice.
Mayor Dennis Donohue confirmed the hiring after a four-hour-plus closed meeting Saturday. He said the council voted 4-3 to hire Corpuz, pending a vote on a salary and benefits package set for Tuesday’s council meeting.
During the council’s Nov. 19 closed-door session, three council members tried to muster four votes to hire Acting City Manager Jim Pia for the job, sources told The Californian.
Corpuz, reached shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, had no comment and did not return a phone call seeking comment Sunday.
Salinas has about 145,000 residents, compared with Seaside’s 34,000 and Tacoma’s 198,000.
Council member Kimbley Craig said she was disappointed.
“We deliberated for nearly five hours and the majority voted accordingly,” she said. “Personally, I would have preferred (that) we continue the search.”
Council member Jyl Lutes said she agreed with Craig.
“I hoped that my colleagues would agree that it was time to start the recruitment process over,” Lutes said. “But, that didn’t happen and now it’s time to move on.”
Council member Steve McShane said he believes Corpuz has the skills and experience Salinas needs as it struggles to get to get economic-development efforts off the ground.
“Without question, Ray will have to work hard to gain the trust of the entire council,” McShane said, referring to the 4-3 vote. “That said, I know he is up to the challenge. I have every confidence he will be great in this position.”
On Saturday, 18 speakers addressed the council before it went into closed session. While a handful supported Corpuz, the clear majority promoted Pia for the position.
Kym Navarrette of Salinas told council members she would like to see them panel hire Pia, a popular 30-year-plus city employee. Fellow resident Leslie Bowling-Gomez agreed, saying, “Jim understands what needs to get done. You’re not going to find a more experienced person for this job.”
But other speakers said Corpuz is what Salinas needs because of his economic-development experience.
“So, Mr. Corpuz isn’t very likeable – so what?” Salinas businessman Ricky Cabrera said. “This isn’t supposed to be a popularity contest. He got a lot of great things done in Tacoma, and I think that’s what we should be focusing on.”
Corpuz’s supporters point to his role in establishing a light-rail system, three museums and a $120 million convention center in Tacoma. They also noted Corpuz’s role in cleaning up and rehabilitating the city’s polluted waterfront.
CAREER IN TACOMA
A career municipal government executive, Corpuz was fired in Tacoma in 2003 for his support of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, who shot and killed his wife, Crystal, then turned the gun on himself in a shopping center parking lot.
Crystal Brame’s family later filed a $75 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the City of Tacoma and named Corpuz as one of the respondents. The family later settled out of court for $12 million.
In February 2004, Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Corpuz on suspicion of drunken driving. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. About three months later, Corpuz received a ruling of a “deferred prosecution” by a judge on the case.
The judge ordered Corpuz to undergo two years of treatment for alcoholism and placed him on five years of probation. Because he refused to take a breath test during his arrest, his driver’s license was automatically suspended for a year.
In a deposition released in 2005, Corpuz admitted learning about a 1988 rape allegation against Brame in early 2001, nine months before he appointed Brame as police chief. He said Brame and former Assistant City Attorney Shelley Kerslake described the allegation as “not sustained.”
In August 2005, Corpuz became the city manager in Seaside. Four years later, he ran into controversy again when he placed Police Chief Steven Cercone on paid administrative leave in a case related to the chief’s request that the city investigate a sexual harassment case inside the police department.
The case involved a female employee who alleged that she was being stalked by a co-worker. At the time, Corpuz was accused of interfering with the investigation. It is also was believed to be the reason he placed the chief on leave. Cercone later left the city with a large settlement payment.
Corpuz largely has declined to comment in detail on his candidacy or his work history.
The News Tribune contributed to this report.
Jeff Mitchell: jemitchell@thecalifornian.com
www.thecalifornian.com
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