For 25 years, Jack Simpson served as City Manager or City Administrator for the cities of Hawaiian Gardens, Paramount and Bellflower. Read his monthly City Manager Newsletter on the Trackdown Management Service Web site.

The following is from his “Picking Up The Pieces” section of the December Special Edition Newsletter:

  • Former Lomita City Manager Tom Odom has been appointed by City Manager Carolyn Lehr to be Rancho Palos Verdes’ Interim Parks, Open Space and Trails Manager.

  • Poway City Manager Rod Gould, 52, has been named Santa Monica City Manager, succeeding the retiring P. Lamont Ewell. Rod has previously been the City Manager in San Rafael and Monrovia. He is a Past-President of the City Managers Department of the League of California Cities.
  • Paradise Town Manager Chuck Rough (pronounced “row”) has held his current post since 1996, and he has worked in local government for more than 30 years.
  • Inglewood City Administrator Timothy E. Wanamaker came to the city in April, 2008 from Buffalo, New York where he was the Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Planning.  Prior to that he served as a senior executive in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
  • Moreno Valley has appointed William L. “Bill” Bopf as the Interim City Manager following the retirement of City Manager Bob Gutierrez.  Moreno Valley’s Assistant City Manager Betsy M. Adams left to be the new City Manager in Grand Terrace. Bill has served as City Manager in Tustin and Napa, and most recently worked in economic development with Delano and Pomona.
  • Former Ontario and Lomita City Manager Michael O’Connor is currently the Executive Director of the Salton Sea Authority.
  • Former CSAC Executive Director Steven Szalay is the new Interim County Executive in Sacramento County filling in for County Executive Terry Schutten, who will retire December 31.  After leaving CSAC Steve was a mediator for the Center of Collaborative Policy at California State University, Sacramento.
  • West Hollywood, where Paul Arevalo is City Manager, celebrated its 25th Birthday as an incorporated city in November, 2009.
  • Following a largest public outpouring of support City Manager Joe Donabed was reinstated as the Hughson City Manager.
  • That is Atascadero Assistant City Manager Jim Lewis in the middle…looks like flanked by a couple of body guards….err, or tackles.  Jim has suffered through the 2009 USC football season along with the many other Trojan fans, who started the year thinking “National Championship.”  The battle cry is now “wait until next year.”
  • Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers credits the Glendora Police Department and citizen vigilance for the community’s notable crime decrease.  Auto thefts in Glendora have decreased by about 23 percent, and the city has experienced a 19 percent drop in burglaries.  Aggravated assaults have decreased by 28 percent.
  • San Jacinto City Manager Barry McClellan retires at the end of December, 2009.
  • Veteran City Manager Sam Racadio is the Interim City Manager in Banning.
  • Jason Behrmann, 36, became the new Galt City Manager November 4, taking over for the retiring City Manager Ted Anderson. Jason grew up in Los Osos and graduated from Morro Bay High School.
  • Burbank City Manager Michael Flad is a former Assistant City Manager in Ukiah. He has a BA from  UCLA and an MPA from California State University, Northridge.
  • Irwindale will consider the appointment of an Interim City Manager on December 1 as City Manager Robert Griego retired in November.
  • Truckee Town Manager Tony Lashbrook and his staff, including Associate Planner Jenna Endres, have been dealing with a 71-acre development proposal that may include 426 homes and 485,000 square feet of commercial and industrial space.
  • Lafayette City Manager Steven Falk is dealing with providing law enforcement issues; to continue contracting with the Sheriff, develop a service agreement with a neighboring city, or organize an in-house department.
  • Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman, 64, has announced his retirement in March, 2010 after 21-years at the helm of one of the largest emergency service agencies in the world, with 3,000 firefighters.  Chief Freeman grew up in Monterey Park and Arcadia and he currently lives in Whittier.
  • Hawaiian Gardens, where Ernesto Marquez is the City Administrator, reports a 41 percent drop in crime and from 2006 until 2009 a “gang crime” reduction of 58 percent.
  • Marni C. Churchill is the Director of Development for the Stockton region in the Office of University Advancement with California State University, Stanislaus.  She previously served as Vice President for Philanthropic Services with the Berks County Community Foundation in Reading, Pennsylvania.  Marni’s husband Leon Churchill is the City Manager in Tracy.
  • Vista City Manager Rita Geldert was among the  “Women Who Mean Business Nominees”  presented October 27 at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego.  The 2009 program was presented by the San Diego Business Journal and Union Bank.

For 25 of those years, Jack Simpson served as City Manager or City Administrator for the cities of Hawaiian Gardens, Paramount and Bellflower. Read his monthly City Manager Newsletter on the Trackdown Management Service Web site.

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