Roy J. Herte

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Dick Breakiron on October 15, 2005:

Posted on Fri, Oct. 14, 2005 Former Salinas City Manager Roy Herte dies By JOE LIVERNOIS and ANDRE BRISCOE Herald Staff Writers Roy Herte Jr., who helped guide Salinas through tough financial times as an interim city manager, died Monday. He was 76. Herte's work as a municipal official was a second career, following a military career that took him from the White House to conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. "He had an amazing career, and he was an amazing gentleman," said Russ Jeffries, mayor during much of Herte's tenure with the city. "He was a fine, fine man,'' said former Salinas City Councilwoman Phyllis Muerer, who also worked with Herte during her tenure on the council. "He was an absolute pleasure to work with. He wasn't flashy, he was 100 percent straightforward in how he handled things. I feel comfortable speaking for the public when I say he would never do something that wasn't in the best interest of the city." Some of Muerer's fondest memories of Herte involve her son, who was born when she was a council member. "My son David would go with me to meetings and Roy always had a stash of cookies in his office... David always had a standing invitation to help himself to them," Muerer said. She said Herte balanced military discipline with a laid-back approach to work, which made it an easy atmosphere for city employees to work in. "He was professional and friendly and he had a really good, calming influence on the staff," said Muerer. "He had a side to him that you wouldn't expect a military man to have. He wrote poetry. He wrote one for my son David. That's not something people would generally associate a military person with. A West Point graduate, a city administrator, a poetry writer?" Phyllis Muerer's husband, Fred, knew Herte from his days at West Point. He knew Herte to be a humble person. "He was not the type to put on airs," said Fred Muerer. "He was a quiet, unassuming person." After his retirement from the military and his last assignment as deputy commandant of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Herte took the job as director of Salinas public works. At the same time, he earned a master's degree in public administration from Golden Gate University. He was promoted to deputy city manager in 1988 and served as the interim city manager after the departure of Bill Carlson. The city was in a tumultuous financial situation at the time, said Jeffries, but Herte and the City Council were able to overcome a $2 million budget deficit without laying off employees or shutting down services. "Roy was always thinking about making the city better," Jeffries said. Herte was born Jan. 22, 1929, in Salt Lake City and attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served in Korea and then moved to Washington to serve as a White House aide in the Eisenhower administration. He was later commissioned to the 6th Army Training Command at Fort Ord. He met his wife, Mary Ann, a local schoolteacher, while at Fort Ord. The family traveled throughout the world as Herte completed his assignments before returning to combat in Vietnam. He was decorated with the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and seven air medals for his duty in Vietnam. He was then assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, then was moved to DLI before his retirement. Herte moved to Del Mesa Carmel after his retirement from Salinas. In addition to his wife, Herte is survived by three children, Kelly, Dianna and Jake, and six grandchildren.

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