Indian Hills manager resigns

The general manager of the Indian Hills General Improvement District resigned Wednesday.

Dennis Longhofer submitted his resignation at the district's regular meeting before a special meeting could be convened to review his performance.

Trustee Kathryn Clark-Ross said she was surprised by the resignation, but a review by consultant Sandra Haugan designed to scrutinize the district at all levels indicated Longhofer needed to improve his managerial skills.

Haugan said Thursday that she made no recommendations regarding Longhofer's employment.

"It was unexpected," Haugan said of Longhofer's resignation. "I made no recommendations regarding the general manager's employment."

Longhofer said Thursday he was not yet prepared to make a statement about his resignation.

One-time trustee Art Baer said Longhofer is a good guy, just not a manager.

"He didn't do a good job of handling the finances. He had no concept of cash flow and he was spending money foolishly," Baer said. "We don't have much of that."

The Indian Hills General Improvement District has 14 employees, but it could be handled without a general manager, Baer said.

Longhofer, who makes $107,000 a year in the position, was hired to replace general manager Jim Bentley in March of 2006.

He was one of three applicants for the job, but the other two dropped out, Baer said.

Before accepting the Indian Hills position, Longhofer worked for 29 years as operations supervisor for the South Lake Tahoe Public Utility District. In that time, the Lake Tahoe plant received the national Environmental Protection Agency award twice for operations and maintenance.

Longhofer grew up in Southern California. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1971 and served in Vietnam with the First Cavalry Division, the last combat unit in that war, he said.

Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.