To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Heather Ruiz, Human Resources Director
Prepared By: Breyana Brandt, Parks and Recreation Director; Katrina Gregory, Recreation Manager
TITLE:
Title
Appointment of Retired Annuitant Peter Hangen Pursuant to Government Code Section 7522.56 & 21224
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution appointing Retired Annuitant Peter Hangen pursuant to Government Code Section 7522.56 & 21224.
Body
DISCUSSION:
In accordance with the Government Code 7522.56 & 21224, the Napa City Council may appoint a retiree to perform work of limited duration and may authorize an exception to the 180-day waiting period following retirement when it is necessary to fill a critically needed position sooner than 180 days.
Peter Hangen retired from his role as Recreation Supervisor on August 1, 2025, after nine years of dedicated service to the City of Napa. Staff recommends appointing Mr. Hangen as a Retired Annuitant to provide critical temporary support. The Recreation Division is comprised of 7 full-time staff and over 95 part-time and seasonal staff. The Division is working to recruit (3) three recreation coordinator positions over the next few months. The (3) three Recreation Coordinator vacancies account for 43% of the full-time staff in the Recreation Division. In order to sustain existing services for the community, and to provide appropriate oversight of the part-time and seasonal staff it is recommended that Mr. Hangen return in a part-time capacity to serve in this critical role until the City is able to hire the regular full time staff and get them trained.
Under the direction of the Recreation Manager, Mr. Hangen will provide essential transition support to keep the Division operations functioning during the recruitment, hiring, and training of the (3) three Recreation Coordinators. His institutional knowledge, familiarity with event logistics, and long-standing relationships across departments are uniquely valuable to this temporary assignment. Mr. Hangen holds specialized experience in the oversight and permitting for 65 special events held each year. These annual events are all at various stages of the planning and permitting process and the City desires to sustain these events with minimal impacts on the community organizations who put them on each year. Signature City events, including the Napa Lighted Art Festival, Fourth of July Celebration, and Dia de los Muertos are all in the planning stages. These events for tourist destinations such as Napa have a larger draw than other communities, and therefore create a number of unique challenges in the planning and logistics. Mr. Hangen’s historical knowledge of these events and learned experience of having coordinated them over many years makes him uniquely qualified to fill this roll during this critical transition period. He has the knowledge and skills to be able to perform the work and transition the institutional knowledge to newly hired staff that any other part-time person would not be able to do. It is desired that Mr. Hangen would have overlap with the new Recreation Coordinators to ensure that key event logistics are transitioned seamlessly to the newly hired staff, ensuring Napa’s events continue with the same caliber for the community and visitors of the City.
Responsibilities will include event oversight and logistics for large-scale community events; supporting art exhibit construction, installation, and deinstallation; advising on equipment needs, research, and feasibility for event execution; coordinating with Public Works and other City departments using well-established working relationships; performing hands-on work involving hand tools and small assembly tasks related to public art projects, event infrastructure, and Art Walk installations; and performing other duties as assigned.
Mr. Hangen will be compensated $38.50 per hour, consistent with the approved salary range for the Recreation Coordinator classification. He will not receive any additional benefits or compensation. His total hours worked will not exceed the 960-hour limit in accordance with CalPERS regulations for retired annuitants.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
This appointment will be funded using salary savings in the current approved budget.
CEQA:
The Human Resources Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Retired Annuitant Conditional Offer Letter - Peter Hangen
NOTIFICATION:
None.