The Auburn City Council will appoint Assistant City Manager James "Jim" Buston as the interim city manager following City Manager Charlie Duggan's retirement.
"I am happy that [Duggan] is at this young age where he can retire and still move on," Buston said. "It's going to be difficult in those interim months to continue with the level of excellence he has set for us and prepare the staff for the incoming new city manager."
Buston was also a vice president for software development at Intermark, a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras and a U.S. Adviser for Latin American Affairs in Honduras in Central America. He graduated from Oregan State University with a Bachelor's Degree and Auburn University with a Master's Degree.
In 2014, Buston received an Executive Education Certificate for Senior Executives in State and Local Government from the John Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Buston will begin serving as acting city manager in February when Duggan is expected to take several weeks of leave before his March 1 official retirement date, at which time Buston will begin serving as interim city manager. Buston will stay interim city manager until a replacement is found and appointed.
"I'm looking forward to the next few months," Buston said. "I'm usually acting city manager in [Duggan's] absence, so it's not going to be really new to me. ... I am not interested in the position for the time, so I'm not going to be seeking it."
Mayor Bill Ham said the city will hire a search firm to conduct a nationwide search for candidates for the position. He told The Plainsman last month that he expects a long-term replacement within six months. Buston said a replacement could be found by as early as August, but would need a few more months to transition.
The Auburn City Council selected Duggan as the city manager back in 2006, and he has served as the city manager ever since. Ham may be more of a household name in Auburn, but Duggan has worked behind the scenes as the top executive over the city's many administrative departments.
Duggan has been indispensable over the last 10 years in improving the city's public K-12 education and polishing the city's finances, which resulted in a credit upgrade to AA+, in addition to overseeing economic development that brought numerous new businesses and industries to the area, Ham said.
Duggan graduated from Auburn with a bachelor’s degree in applied physics in 1990. His interest in public service and government came after his undergraduate experience.
At the University, while working toward an MBA, Duggan took public administration courses and joined the city's Parks and Recreation Department in 1991. Fifteen years later he would become the full-time city manager.
Duggan told The Plainsman he thinks now would be the best time for him to finish his time with the city.
"We've finished a lot of large projects," Duggan said last month. "While we have a lot of things going on, they are well in hand by the staff. Now, it's just time for me to start a new adventure."
The Marin Municipal Water District, a large public agency that provides water in Marin County, California, has offered Duggan a job as their Administrative Services Division Manager. He will be over human resources, information technology, water conservation and finance.
"I'm going to explore as much as I can of places like Yosemite and the city of San Francisco," he said. "I'm going to try to make sure I have a good work-life balance. I think it's going to be good. I just have to make sure, on the weekends, that I get up and get out."
"I'm excited. There will be a lot of interesting places to explore and fantastic things to see."
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