CITY MANAGER ANNOUNCES DECISION TO RETIRE IN 2003.

Byline: - Cecilia Chan

City Manager MaryJane Lazz intends to retire next year after more than two decades serving Thousand Oaks.

Lazz was assistant city manager for 18 years and interim city manager for a year before being promoted to her current job in January 1999.

``It's a commitment to my husband I would retire at 55,'' said Lazz, who will be 54 in April. ``We have all sorts of plans - travel plans, remodeling-our-house plans, visiting-our-family plans, a whole bunch of fun things.''

Lazz, who earns $162,820 a year, will receive a percentage of her pay and be eligible for medical insurance when her contract ends May 1, 2003. The city pays $435 a month for insurance coverage for retired employees.

Deputy City Manager Scott Mitnick said it will be up to the City Council to decide how to replace Lazz. The city manager and city attorney are the only two employees who serve at the council's will.

`It's not unusual for a city manager at that age to contemplate retirement,'' Mitnick said. ``I think most of the council members and most of the executive staff knew she was thinking about it. She has been with the city for a long time.

``Some of us would like her to stay longer but we respect her decision to do that,'' he said. ``I would like her to stay longer. Technically, she can still change her mind. She is probably one of the more dynamic and effective city managers in the state and has a strong reputation in California.''

He called it unlikely, however, she will change her mind about retiring.

Before being hired in Thousand Oaks, Lazz worked as a librarian and assistant librarian for various organizations from 1966 to 1976, as an administrative assistant in Oxnard in 1976 and as an assistant to the city manager in Oxnard from 1977 to 1980.