PublicCEO presents his Picking Up the Pieces:
Manteca Assistant City Manager Karen McLaughlin has been selected to become Manteca‘s first female City Manager when she takes over for City Manager Steve Pinkerton in September. Steve is the new Davis City Manager. Karen served as Interim City Manager following Bob Adams‘ retirement and Steve’s appointment. She has worked with the city for 24-years, and been the ACM since 2002. Former Manteca City Manager David Jinkens hired Karen as an Executive Analyst in 1987. She had been a writer with the Manteca Bulletin prior to that.
Retired Pasadena Fire Chief and Assistant Director of Disaster Emergency Services Ernest Mitchell Jr. is being nominated by President Obama for the U. S. Fire Administrator position. He is a former Fire Chief and Deputy City Manager in Monrovia and previously served as a battalion chief in Compton.
Scott Jacobson, formerly the Director of Leadership Giving with the Office of Development and External Relations for the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development has changed positions with the University. He is currently the Assistant Athletic Director for Development at USC.
Alameda City Manager John Russo spent two-years as a Legal Aid attorney in St. Louis before moving to Oakland in 1987.
Irwindale Interim City Manager Marty Lomeli, a retired La Verne City Manager, was seen recently in Lubbock, Texas, and somewhere in the “Land of Enchantment.”
Retired San Luis Obispo City Manager Ken Hampian has been appointed Acting Chief Administrative Officer in Bell. Ken plans to serve for about 30-days and assist the City find an Interim City Administration to serve for six-months while a recruitment is conducted for a permanent manager.
Arcadia City Manager Don Penman, 60, has announced that he will retire in mid-October after 36-years in city government; the last 13-years in Arcadia, a little more than 3-years as City Manager. Don also served as City Manager in San Fernando and Baldwin Park.
Manteca City Manager Steve Pinkerton, 51, is the new Davis City Manager. Steve follows former City Manager Bill Emlen.
According to Irwindale Assistant City Manager Camille Diaz, Interim City Manager Martin Lomeli has a 6-month employment agreement. Marty, who retired last year as the La Verne City Manager after 23-years, replaces Sol Benudiz, who took the position when former City Manager Robert Griego retired in 2009. Bob became city manager when Steve Blancarte retired in 2005. Sol left Irwindale to accept a position with the Southern California Edison Company.
San Juan Capistrano City Manager Karen Brust is recruiting for a Utilities Director to provide stability and continuity in the department staff rather than use a consultant as the city has in the pasts. Consultant Joe Tait, who served as San Juan Capistrano City Manager for a time, will be replaced by an “in-house” department head.
Former Bell Chief Administrative Officer Bob Rizzo claims that his employment contract requires the city to pay any legal expenses he has due to his job. Superior Court Judge Ralph W. Dau ruled that there is a question of whether Bob acted “outside the scope of his employment” when he allegedly broke the law. The Judge says that a jury must resolve that issue.
A 25-year veteran of Caltrans, Pedro Orso-Delgado recently celebrated two-years as Deputy City Manager in Santee. Keith Till is the Santee City Manager.
Merced City Manager John Bramble and staff have been pursuing a $600,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and the California High-Speed Rail Authority to conduct a transportation study to learn how to maintain the transportation system, including how people will use the local station and what kind of development will be around it.
Anaheim-based Turner Construction, that headed convention center projects in Ontario and San Diego, has been retained by Riverside to design and build a $36 million renovation and expansion of the downtown Riverside convention center. With Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson leaving August 12 to become the Chief Executive Officer in Sacramento County, Riverside Community Development Director Scott Barber has been tapped to serve as Interim City Manager during the recruitment for a replacement.
Bill Mushallo, most recently the Finance Director in Calistoga, and a Santa Rosa financial planning manager prior to that, is the new Finance Director on City Manager John Brown‘s Petaluma management team.
San Rafael City Manager Nancy Mackle is interviewing internal candidates to fill the Community Development Director post Bob Brown, 57, is leaving vacant with his retirement. Bob previously worked in planning in the cities of Berkeley, San Mateo, Milpitas and Palo Alto.
Rohnert Park City Hall is once again open on Fridays to serve the public. Former City Manager Dan Schwarz instituted staff furlough on Fridays more than a year ago in an effort to save money. Current City Manager Gabe Gonzalez finds the city now able to afford the return to Friday service.
Yuba City contracts with Sutter County for Animal Shelter services. City Manager Steve Jepsen has been dealing with issues a grand jury has reported. Roughly 70 percent of the animals brought to the shelter each year come from Yuba City.
Former Signal Hill and Irwindale City Manager and Pico Rivera Assistant City Manager David Caretto is a member of the City of Big Bear Lake City Council.
Following City Administrator Chuck Deschenes’ retirement from Waterford after 13 years, Tim Ogden, 35, started May 23, 2011 after leaving the City of Riverbank as the Economic Development Director. Tim is one of the youngest chief administrators in the Central Valley.
Helene Calvet, Long Beach Health Officer, has resigned to become the Chief Medical Officer in the Orange County Health Agency. Helene has been with the Long Beach Health Department for 11-years.
Catherine Hayes, the former Executive Director of the California State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, claimed in a lawsuit that Board members tried to intimidate her into not cooperating with a 2006 investigation by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office into whether chiropractors had engaged in insurance fraud, and that they retaliated by firing her. Governor Jerry Brown approved a $600,000 settlement of the suit without the State admitting any wrongdoing.
After working with the Selma Fire Department for 26-years, the last 9-years as Fire Chief, Chief Jeff Kestly was laid-off. Selma City Manager D-B Heusser has been engaged in budget cutting to address a deficit of a little more than half a million dollars.
Susan Vombaur, a former Murrieta city employee, has filed suit stating that the city, City Manager Rick Dudley, Assistant City Manager Jim Holston, City Engineer Patrick Thomas and Maintenance Supervisor Mike Brooks for sexual discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination. The lawsuit claims that Susan was wrongfully blamed for project errors and delays and was terminated and replaced by a part-time male employee. She claims to have suffered physical and emotional duress.