Seaside City Manager Jaime Fontes contract terminated by City Council

SEASIDE, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Seaside City Council has voted to terminate the contract of city manager Jaime Fontes "without cause."

Fontes was put on administrative leave in April for undisclosed reasons. He was serving as Seaside City Manager since June 2022.

City officials confirmed that current Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges will continue to serve as acting city manager while the city currently looks for a replacement.

As part of Fontes's contract, he is entitled to $125,000 in severance pay which is six months of his salary.

Borges told KION that they have started to recruit potential candidates to become the city manager. Borges said that once a city manager is selected then he will return to his role as Police Chief full-time.

However, Borges said that don't have a timeline set yet for a permanent City Manager at this time.

Seaside Police Chief Borges named interim City Manager after former manager placed on leave

Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges has been named the city's interim City Manager after Jaime Fontes was placed on paid leave by the city.

Chief Borges tells KION he doesn't believe this will impact his work at the police department and believes the move isn't long-term.

On Thursday, the city held a closed session meeting with Fontes present discussing a performance evaluation with the city manager.

It was later that Fontes was announced to be on leave, although it's unknown why at this time.

Borges said his goal is to keep the city moving forward by taking on the role.

Fontes was initially appointed to the role in June 2022 after serving a similar role in Greenfield, Santa Paula and at Nogales, Arizona.