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.

The following is from his “Picking Up The Pieces” section of the February Speciail Issue newsletter:

  • Richmond Assistant City Manager Leslie Knight was awarded the 2010 John H. Nail Award presented to an outstanding assistant by the City Managers’ Department of the League of California Cities.

  • National City’s Chris Zapata was recognized by the City Managers Department of the League of California Cities with the Annual Award for the Advancement of Diverse Communities.


  • Belmont City Manager Jack Crist, 65, retired (again) this past month, and Chief of Police Don Mattei will serve as Interim City Manager while the City begins its recruiting process to replace Jack.

  • Long Beach City Manager Pat West has appointed Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, a long-time Long Beach resident, to be the next Chief in Long Beach. Former Chief Tony Batts went to Oakland.

  • Former Elk Grove Deputy City Manager Frank Oviedo, 39, is the new City Manager in Wildomar taking over for Interim City Manager John Danielson.

  • San Leandro Deputy City Manager Jacquelyn L. Diaz is a Past President of MMANC, (1997-1998).

  • Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney has ruled that Eureka City Manager David Tyson cannot be held personally liable in the $1.4 million civil suit brought against him and the City by a Eureka Police Department employee.

  • Crescent City, where Rod Butler is City Manager, recently approved an ordinance aimed at curbing aggressive panhandlers by restricting where, when and how solicitations are made.

  • David E. Witt, 58, former La Mesa Assistant City Manager/Community Development Director is the new La Mesa City Manager following former City Manager Sandra Kerl’s resignation to become the Deputy General Manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.

  • Retired City Manager Robert L. Williams will celebrate his 90th birthday on April 17, 2010. Bob served as City Manager in Needles, Tracy, Eureka, Santa Fe Springs, Paramount, Norco, Pico Rivera, Signal Hill, Santa Paula, Commerce and Signal Hill a second time. Bob was the recipient of the 1974 ICMA Management Innovation Award. The Paramount, Norco, the first Signal Hill, Santa Paula and the Commerce stints were as Interim City Manager.

  • Stephen Albright is Trinidad’s first City Manager, appointed in 2008. He and his wife Karen Albright have one of the largest private collections of antique quilts on the West Coast, according to the Redwood Empire Quilters Guild Newsletter. Prior to his appointment in Trinidad, the couple operated the Old Town Bed and Breakfast Inn in Eureka. With a 2000 Census population of 311, Trinidad is one of California’s smallest cities. The City incorporated in 1870.

  • Former City Manager Tim Kerr, who served in the top spot in Turlock, Ceres and Livingston, continues to recuperate from serious foot surgery. He has been using a “bone stimulator” to speed bone growth around the area where doctors installed screws, plates and staples. Tim is becoming impatient to get on with the next chapter in his life.

  • Barstow City Manager Richard D. Rowe took up flying at the age of 60, and is enjoying piloting his own plane these days. A 1959 graduate of Pius X High School, Richard recently went to his 50-year Class Reunion.

  • South Lake Tahoe City Manager David Jinkens will leave his post in August this year. He has served as City Manager in the picturesque community for the past 8-years. David has said that it has been “…a distinct honor and privilege…” to serve the South Lake Tahoe community as City Manager. The veteran public manager previously served as City Manager in Soledad, Oroville, Avalon, Manteca, Morgan Hill and Elk Grove. David has a 35-year ICMA Service Award.

  • Soledad City Manager Adela Gonzalez has announced that her City has a new Chief of Police, Eric Sills, who has spent nearly 28-years in the San Jose Police Department. He most recently has served as a Captain in charge of the San Jose department’s Special Operations Division.

  • Clifford G. Petrie was the first Manhattan Beach City Manager starting in 1948. He went on the serve as CAO in Culver City and City Manager in West Covina, Monterey Park and Santa Barbara. He was President of the League City Managers’ Department (State Association) in 1959-60.