CALABASAS : City Hires Landscape Maintenance Official

The city of Calabasas has hired a full-time staff person to oversee the maintenance of four special districts in the city.

The county now has that responsibility, but the city, dissatisfied with the county’s performance, plans to take over the job.

Bill Millar of Lompoc, a licensed landscape contractor with a background in government service, has been selected for the post. He said Monday that he is looking forward to his first day of work next Monday.

Maintenance of medians, parkways, trees, Lake Calabasas and creeks and slopes within city boundaries is currently overseen by Los Angeles County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, which hires private contractors. The work is funded through special districts set up before the city incorporated in 1991.

Under the new arrangement, the landscape district maintenance manager, as Millar’s position is called, will report to the city engineer, city officials said. Millar will be in charge of hiring contractors and making sure the work is done.

Another part of his job, Millar said, will be to help prepare for July when the city takes over the county’s duties. He also will meet with homeowners, who have complained that under the county maintenance was inadequate.

“I want to be available to these people to listen,” said Millar. “We want people to be pleased with this new arrangement.”

Millar, 47, said he was a grounds supervisor for the Santa Barbara School District, a job he held for three years until the district underwent reorganization in 1992.

Millar, who has a bachelor of science degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said he once managed a flower seed farm, and also spent time as a rancher. He said he has also been a landscaping contractor, which will help him in working with contractors.