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If the council taps Deputy City Manager Weldon Rucker to take the reins of the city – at least temporarily – he’ll know what he’s getting into. 

And the council will, too. 

Rucker served as interim city manager for much of the three years between 1993 and 1996. 

“It’s remarkable. He’s liked by both sides,” said Councilmember Dona Spring, who is supporting Rucker and placed the manager’s replacement on tonight’s closed-session agenda. “He knows the history of Berkeley, the players and the issues.” 

City Manager Jim Keene is slated to leave the city in August for a post in Tucson, Ariz. 

“It would be a tremendous honor to serve in that capacity and very challenging,” said Rucker, 59, who was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Berkeley since the age of 19. 

He added that he would need to know the council’s expectations. “I have some expectations as well,” he added. 

Weighing in from Seattle where she’s attending the United States Conference of Mayors, Mayor Shirley Dean called for her colleagues to slow down. 

“What we ought to be doing is discussing the process,” she said. “And we can’t do that in closed session.” 

She said she’ll ask the council to schedule a discussion of the process in open session. 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said it would be very hard to find a city manager who would work with a council as divided as Berkeley’s. 

Council elections in November could deepen that division or change it. 

Liberal/progressives Margaret Breland and Maudelle Shirek are up for reelection, as are moderates Diane Woolley and Betty Olds. 

(Council lines were blurred, however, when it came to supporting outgoing manager Keene. Breland and Olds supported the manager’s recent 9 percent raise. Shirek and Woolley opposed it.) 

Armstrong agreed that an interim manager should be chosen. The person should serve until after the elections, she said. 

She said she thinks either Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz or Rucker would be good candidates for the job. Both would be able to move ahead with Keene’s bureaucratic restructuring, she said. 

“I would not want to endanger his health,” she added, referring to the heart attack Rucker suffered when he was in the role of interim city manager. 

Rucker, however, said he’s not worried about a reoccurrence. The deputy city manager’s job is almost as stressful as the manager’s and, moreover, he said he’s learned to address his personal healthcare issues. 

After military service and several other jobs, Rucker came into Berkeley city government, where he has spent the last 28 years. He began working in youth programs in the Young Adult Project, moved on to become a division manager in Health and Human Services, then served as director of the department. 

He was interim city manager for most of three years – then filled in as acting housing director and acting public works director. 

Rucker is known among councilmembers as a person able to forge consensus in the community. For example he took the lead role in negotiations with KPFA protesters last summer. 

The key is “listening to what a person has to say,” Rucker said. People who disagree reach consensus by each side seeing the commonality shared by the other. 

Rucker said that one of the reasons he is able to get along with the council as a whole, is his respect for each of the council members. 

He said they show him respect in return. 

“I focus on the delivery of services,” he said. “And when I can’t do something, I’m pretty honest.” 

Rucker said he expects taking over this time would be easier than in was in the years between 1993 and 1996. Mayor Loni Hancock resigned her post in 1993, then was replaced briefly by Vice Mayor Linda Maio. She was replaced by Mayor Jeffrey Leiter, appointed by the council. Mayor Shirley Dean was elected in 1996. 

“This time won’t be as difficult as last time,” he said. 

Maio said a process to search for a permanent city manager should begin immediately. She said it would take at least six months, so the new manager would come on board after the elections. 

She said she would be studying the compensation package other cities offer their managers. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque confirmed that the council is permitted to talk about the appointment of specific individuals at their closed-door meeting tonight and to talk to the candidate. 

The council could make the appointment tonight, if it chooses to do so, she said. 

If they want to talk about process, however, they need to do that in public session, she said. 

The City Council’s closed-session meeting starts at 5:30 p.m., at 1900 Addison St. and is open for public comment for 10 minutes.