To: Town of Yountville Town Council
From: Stephen Becker
Date 15 June 2026
I am writing this note as it is not apparent when public discussion of the job search for the Town Manager (TM) may occur. The Town Council (TC) might consider early dialog with the public re the TM job description (JD), and role, in the wake of recent events related to the Commons, including departure of the prior TM, and the selection of an executive search firm.
The events related to the Commons and the path forward for the Town are well known and documented by the TC’s recording of public comment and numerous articles and letters in local and regional press.
At the time of this writing there appears to be few, if any, who support the now defunct Commons project. The public-led referendum compelled the TC to abandon the Project and to accept the Town’s Zoning Board unanimous ruling; this is an opportunity for a much-needed reset.
High level candidates for the TM position need to have the benefit of an objective and synthetic summary of the Commons events. Yet to date there has been no formal efforts to summarize the timelines, explicate process or evaluate outcomes. It seems naïve to believe that the Town will somehow recruit the best talent absent a more public systematic review and understanding of events.
Indeed, consider how you as an experienced civic leader might regard the sudden stoppage of a months-long process that satisfied the Town’s purchase of the former YES property, while simultaneously addressing, in part, the State’s mandate for affordable housing.
The collapse of the poorly studied and never-budgeted project has raised alarm regarding the competencies of Town management, oversight, and responsibility; this will not to be lost on attentive TM candidates.
The current search for a TM is no ordinary search, but rather an effort to find a seasoned individual willing to step into a storm of controversy, a mistrustful public, and a TC whose credibility has been depleted. We must provide this individual with confidence of our intent, a vision for the Town, and the tools to succeed.
This will entail demonstration from the TC to an unbiased documentation of events, a forthright and professional search process, and upmost, leadership by example.
Some questions and comments are offered for your consideration.
1. How does the TC envision informing and explaining the Commons events to potential TM candidates?
2. Will the TC agree to oversee a document that summarizes events related to the Commons? If so, how and by whom, will this document be undertaken? [Comment]: absent a clear summary serial individual or group interviews with potential candidates, TC and staff, will almost certainly be incomplete. A Rashomon-like1 experience will serve neither the Town’s best interests nor be fair to potential candidates.
3. Will the TC take the leadership role in the documentation process?
4. Will the TC seek to broaden those involved in such a process to include critical external, i.e. public stakeholders?
[Comment]: this could be a key step in building/rebuilding trust and transparency and give meaning to working in a collective fashion.
Finally, understand the task and responsibilities you as TC face, yet be clear your coming work and eventual decisions will affect you least. The Town, those who live and work here, and future governance will depend on your actions in the next period.
Life rarely provides a chance for a redo; the Town’s land purchase, State mandates and the imperatives that led to the initial Common’s proposal still apply…and here we are.
I look forward to your formal and candid thoughts and responses, as well as an open Brown Act-compliant discussion in the Open portion of the 16 June meeting. 1 From Google AI: Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon famously explores how different people can give completely conflicting accounts of the same event. The film's core lesson is that objective truth is often unknowable because human memory is deeply flawed and heavily biased by personal ego, self-interest, and the desire to "save face"