Published: January 2, 2004
RETIRED MILITARY man Jim Cullem, Carmel Public Works director for 15 years, left the city Dec. 31 to embark on yet another career, this time as a private consultant. Cullem is the third longtime city official to retire at the end of 2003, following 23-year Carmel police veteran Pete Poitras and assistant city administrator Greg D’Ambrosio, who left this week after 33 years.
A bleak budget picture led Cullem to retire four years earlier than he had intended.
“With the financial situation, it’s become pretty obvious that there will have to be staff reductions,” he said. “The city’s been spending more than it’s taking in.”
Rather than wait to watch the axe fall, Cullem decided to take advantage of a city council invitation to retire early with two years of additional service credit. That offer, which expired Dec. 31, allows him to collect retirement of 2 percent of his $110,292 salary for each year of service, or about $37,499 a year. He also collects a pension from his 20-year military career.
“Everyone retires sooner or later, and if you have the financial incentive that gives you the opportunity to start another career, it’s hard to pass up,” he said. Cullem’s plans include part-time work using his engineering and public works skills to assist with various projects, including reinforcing buildings to withstand terrorist attacks.
A career engineer
A native New Yorker, Cullem came to Carmel in 1988 following a two-decade stint with the U.S. Army, which put him through graduate school at MIT and sent him to work in the Corps of Engineers. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Cullem and his wife, Eleanor, first arrived on the Peninsula in 1979, when he was assigned to Fort Ord. They still live in the Skyline Forest home they bought then, despite leaving the area in 1982 when his Army career took them elsewhere.
“My wife wanted to come back here to live, and so did I, so we fixed the house up again,” he said.
Less than a year later, after six months with the City of Monterey, he accepted the public works job with Carmel and focused on keeping the roads, drainage, walkways and other infrastructure intact.
He became a master of grant procurement, securing $3.3 million in tax dollars for city projects since he began keeping track in 1990. He attributed some of that success to the experience he gained while cleaning up disastrous winter storm damage in 1995 and 1998.
“By the fourth time, it [competing for federal funds] gets a little easier,” he said.
Whoever replaces him will have to act quickly to spend the $1 million in grant money Cullem and D’Ambrosio acquired but the city hasn’t used. Otherwise it must be returned.
Cullem said he’s enjoyed overseeing a dedicated and efficient staff during his years as director, and praised current and former city councils for supporting public works projects, even if the public might question the necessity.
“The nature of our business is that you don’t really notice what public works does until it fails,” he said, calling the behind-the-scenes operation of storm drains and other systems “not very sexy.”
“An example is the difficulty of getting support for a relatively small stormwater utility fee,” he continued, referring to the city’s failed November ballot measure that would have charged an average of $2.99 per residential property to cover the costs of federally mandated upgrades to the stormwater system.
With the financial outlook continuing to be dismal and so many high-level positions recently vacated, Cullem surmised city hall might be pondering a substantial reorganization.
“I’m sure there are going to be a lot of changes, and a transition period which is going to be a little confusing,” he said. “Barring a tumultuous winter, it won’t be too bad.”