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Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz will retire at the end of November after 36 years as a City of Berkeley employee. He has been City Manager for 8 years, succeeding Weldon Rucker, under whom he served as Deputy City Manager. It has been widely rumored that the baton will again be passed to a City Hall insider, in this case to Deputy City Manager Christine Daniel. 

In his letter of resignation, which was distributed to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and the City Council at 6 p.m. after a special closed council meeting to discuss pending litigation, Kamlarz said this: 

“I would especially like to recognize Christine Daniel as someone who embodies all the qualities necessary to lead the organization and address the challenges that are facing all cities, not only the City of Berkeley, in the upcoming years. “ 

The Berkeley City Council, however, could also decide to open the position for applications and to conduct a search for competitive candidates. 

Daniel's 2010 gross salary in her current job was listed in the Mercury News database of public employee salaries as $195,111. 

According to Contra Costa Times columnist Dan Borenstein, by the end of 2011 Kamlarz would have been making about $260,000—but because of the way employee compensation has been structured by the Berkeley city administration, when he retires he will take home a pension of $280,000 a year, or roughly 108 percent of his salary. He started working for the city as an associate accountant in the library department at a salary of $12,720 a year, Borenstein reported. 

Commenting on the Kamlarz announcement, Councilmember Kriss Worthington praised the manager’s “passion for racial and gender equality, which was reflected in the people he hired.” 

If appointed, Daniel would be the first woman to serve as Berkeley’s City Manager.