With all the comings and goings in California local government, it can be hard to keep track of where your friends are or what’s happening in your neighboring municipalities. But Trackdown Management helps keep the state up-to-date with their newsletter.
PublicCEO presents his Picking Up the Pieces:
March 15 was City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto‘s last day with La Palma, as he has accepted the assignment to be the new City Manager in Arcadia.
Hermosa Beach has retained John Jalili as its Interim City Manager to serve during the recruitment to replace the retiring City Manager Steve Burrell. John retired as the Santa Monica City Manager in 1999. He has previously served as Interim City Manager in Malibu and Lomita.
Lake Elsinore City Manager Bob Brady has been terminated on a 3-2 vote. Lake Elsinore Parks & Recreation Director Pat Kilroy was appointed Interim City Manager.
Napa‘s Housing Manager Jan Maurer-Watkins, 62, has retired. She has served the city since 2007. Napa’s new Housing Manager is Lark Ferrell, who is moving from her Senior Housing Finance Project Manager post in Fairfield.
Former SCAG Deputy Executive Director Douglas Williford began his tenure as the El Cajon City Manager on March 22, taking over for Acting City Manager Rob Turner, El Cajon’s Public Works Director. Former City Manager Kathi Henry retired in August, 2011. Doug previously served as the Irvine Community Development Director, and he worked in Santee between 1982 and 2006. He was Deputy City Manager when he left.
Retired City Manager Brock Arner‘s daughter Melanie Arner Corona of Piper Jaffray’s San Francisco office is a Sonoma State University alumnus. Melanie earn a BA and MA in English at SSU and played two years of basketball for Coach Mark Rigby.
Orange County CEO Tom Mauk, a veteran City Manager, is a USC alumnus.
Cheryl Dillingham, a Humboldt State University alumnus, was recently promoted to Assistant County Administrative Officer for Humboldt County. It has been a year since Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell promoted Frank Catania to replace Assistant City Manager Dan Paranick when Dan joined the Camarillo staff as ACM working with City Manager Bruce Feng.
Carroll Wills, a spokesman for the California Professional Firefighters, said the public safety union supports reforms ending pension abuses but feels public employees have been maligned in stories about public executives who game the system. Most public employees are hard working.
UCLA Extension has announced the offering of a Certificate in Homeland Security and Emergency Management to meet projected demands for one of the most rapidly growing job sectors in the country.
Former Irwindale City Manager Brad Baxter is currently working to finish a Kabul City Project in Afghanistan. He is looking for a city manager-type who would like to go on an adventure.
Happy Easter to one and all!
Hesperia Assistant to the City Manager Kim Summers has been nominated for the Daily Press’ 2012 Most Inspiring Women Award. She is responsible for initiating a staff training and mentoring program. The Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC) recognized Kim for the program. Hesperia City Manager is Mike Podegracz.
Longtime Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Richard Milanovich passed away on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho MIrage after a long bout with cancer. He was 69. While most of the trial reservation is based in Palm Springs, it extends into parts of Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and unincorporated Riverside County.
Marysville City Manager Steve Casey will retired in September after about 10-years with the city. Administrative Services Manager Dixon Coulter, who joined the Marysville city staff in 1999, will leave the city in June, and part-time Finance and Personnel Technician Gloria Maddux, who came to the Marysville staff in a full-time capacity in 1983, plans to leave the staff at the end of May. Mayor Bill Harris notes that the loss of the “institutional knowledge” represented by the three’s years of service will be substantial.
Richard Belmudez has served as City Manager of Perris since 2006. He was previously the Director of Development Services and Planning Manager. He earned a BS and MBA from the University of La Verne. Ron Carr is the Assistant City Manager in Perris.
On the ICMA Web site, ICMA Director of Survey Research Evelina Moulder spotlights Arcata and its efforts to facilitate and encourage public participation through the use of a Public e-Comments System.
Newport Beach‘s Jamie Hook tells us that City Clerk Leilani Brown is about to launch a major upgrade to the City’s electronic records system. Leilani got her start with the Bellflower city staff.
San Bernardino City Manager Charles McNeely, Public Works Director Nadeem Majaj, and Assistant to the City Manager James Graham have all resigned.
Carlsbad Assistant City Manager John Coates served as the Director of Parks and Recreation in Roanoke, Virginia before coming to California to serve as the Director of Community Services at Santee and then Director of Parks and Recreation in Carlsbad. John has an MPA from Old Dominion University.
Retired, again, City Manager Richard Rowe, who graduated from Pius X High School, owned a 1954 Ford as his first car, and bought a 1955 Chevrolet after his high school graduation.
Trinidad is a town in Humboldt County located on the Pacific Ocean 8-miles north of the Arcata-Eureka Airport. Trinidad’s City Manager is Karen Suiker. Karen previously worked for Blue Lake.
El Segundo Interim City Manager Greg Carpenter is the new permanent appointment to the El Segundo City Manager post with a three-year employment agreement. Greg previously served at the Director of Planning and Building & Safety. He replaces former City Manager Doug Willmore.
Eleven Rio Vista residents have been appoint to a screening committee to help find a replacement for City Manager Hector De La Rosa, whose contract has not been renewed. His last day on the job is April 9.
Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason dismissed the suit filed by former Manhattan Beach City Manager Geoff Dolan. Geoff sued for breach of contract and privacy rights violations. Manhattan Beach City Attorney Roxanne Diaz praised the Judge’s decision that supports the public’s right to transparency.
Paul Navazio, the Assistant City Manager in Davis, has been appointed Woodland City Manager to take over from Interim City Manager Kevin O’Rourke. Former Woodland City Manager Mark Deven left the city last September for the Arvada, Colorado City Manager post.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs’ Department Crime Prevention Specialist and Public Information Officer Robert “Bob” Bryn, 61, passed away on Thursday, March 1, 2012. He earned a BA from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s from Fuller Seminary. Rob began his law enforcement career with the Los Altos Police Department in 1970. In 1978 Rob was the Chief of Safety and Security at Ohlone College in Fremont, and in 1986 he went to work as a Sergeant in the Morro Bay Police Department. He went to work for the Sheriff in 2007.
Santa Maria City Manager Rick Haydon has also worked in Fresno, Monterey-Salinas Transit, Monterey, and Dinuba. Rick has a BS from California State University, Fresno and an MA from Golden Gate University.
Former Cudahy City Manager George Perez, 52, has sued the city for breach of contract, claiming that he is owed nearly $400,000 in severance, accrued vacation and sick time, and retirement contributions.
Seal Beach City Manager Jill Ingram announced in early March that Director of Development Services Mark Persico is no longer with the city. Mark took the post in 2009 from Interim Director Terry Belanger, who served following the retirement of veteran Director Lee Whittenberg.
Laguna Woods City Manager Leslie Ann Keane is one of those Trackdown missed on the San Diego work experience list. She is a graduate of San Diego State University and began her career as an Administrative Analyst in San Diego.
Redlands City Manager N. Enrique Martinez was named the 2011-2012 Outstanding Senior Administrator by the Inland Empire Chapter of ASPA.
Centennial, Colorado has offered former California City Manager John Danielson the Centennial City Manager post. John most recently served as Atherton Interim City Manager.
Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phil Smith-Hanes suggests that Trackdown do an issue on the University of Kansas who serve in California cities and/or counties. He points out that retired Fremont City Manager, Past President of CCMF, and current ICMA Senior Advisor Jan Perkins is among the Jayhawks alumni. It is on the Trackdown list of things to do.