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 Jack Simpson’s Picking Up the Pieces.

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Milpitas Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Emma Karlen will temporarily add the duties and responsibilities of the Human Resources Director to her plate following the retirement of Carmen Valdez, who closed out a 30-year career with the city.

Long Beach City Manager Pat West has named Stephen Scott as the Interim Director of the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department in Long Beach. Steve will be replacing George Chapjian, who is leaving Long Beach to lead the Santa Barbara County Community Services Department. Long Beach has 162 parks with 26 community centers and the largest municipally- operated marina system in the Nation that includes 3,500 boat slips and other facilities. George served as Director from 2011.

Berkeley City Manager Christine Daniel will leave her position in July to become Assistant City Administrator in the City of Oakland. Christine took the Berkeley post when City Manager Phil Kamlarz retired in November, 2011. She was first appointed “Interim” and then City Manager in May, 2012. She has worked for Berkeley for 15-years.

Hawthorne City Manager Mike Goodson, 67, has been dismissed and Public Works Director Arnold Shadbehr has been appointed Interim City Manager. Mike was appointed City Manager in 2012. He previously retired in 2004 after serving Hawthorne as Planning Director for 17-years. Arnie was the Interim City Manager when Mike took the post in 2012. Arnie stepped in following City Manager Jag Pathirana’s dismissal.

Former Ventura and Azusa City Manager Rick Cole is the new City Manager in Santa Monica. Rick has been serving as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation. Prior to becoming a city manager Rick served as the Mayor of the City of Pasadena.

Long-time Beaumont City Manager Alan Kapanicas requested and was granted administrative leave so as not to impede an FBI and County District Attorney investigation relative to alleged city budge discrepancies.

Former Compton City Manager G. Harold Duffey is the new Grand Terrace City Manager. He is the first “non-interim” City Manager since the resignation of City Manager Betsy Adams in November, 2013. Since then Kenneth Henderson and Carol Jacobs have served in interim capacities; Carol, since January, 2015.

Rita Geldert, who began her public service career in the Vacaville Personnel Department in 1978, and retired in 2011 as the Vista City Manager, is a 1977 graduate of the University of California, Davis. She earned a Masters at UC-Davis after achieving a BA at California State University, Chico. Rita and her husband Dale currently live in Oceanside.

Cudahy Senior Administrative Analyst Jessica Balandran earned a BA in political science and an MPA from St. Mary’s University. She joined the Cudahy staff in September, 2012.

El Monte Assistant City Manager Jesus Gomez has been named to replace his boss, City Manager Raul Godinez, who resigned. Raul took the City Manager post in July, 2013. He came to El Monte from Santa Ana where he was the Public Works Director. Jesus worked for Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios for nearly 4-years starting in 2005, and then founded his own firm in 2008-2009. He joined the El Monte staff in 2010 as Assistant City Manager.

Michele Nissen, 45, is the new permanent City Manager in Eastvale. She joined the Eastvale staff soon after incorporation in 2010 as the city’s Public Information Officer. She has served as the Interim City Manager since March. She replaces former City Manager Carol Jacobs, who resigned last August. Michele earned a BA in French Language and Literature from Loyola Marymount University, and an MPA from California Baptist University. She served on the Eastvale Planning Commission between 2010 and 2012.

Milpitas City Manager Tom Williams is the focus of a personnel complaint filed by former Milpitas Planning and Neighborhood Services Director Steve McHarris, who left Milpitas for a planning department position in the City of San Jose. An outside legal firm has been retained to investigate the complaint.

City Manager Joan Phillipe of the City of Clearlake is set to retire on June 30. Greg Folsom has been selected to succeed Joan at City Manager. Greg has been serving as the Deputy Director of Economic Development for Riverside County since February, 2014. Previously he served as Deputy Director of Economic Development in Stockton where he worked for 18-years. In January Greg was appointed to a Planning Commission post in Menifee.

Tehachapi Airport Manager Tom Glasgow has resigned to take a private sector position. He has been the full-time airport manager since early 2012. City Manager Greg Garrett indicates that a private management consultant will be retained to assist the airport management transition.

Morro Bay has a newly created Deputy City Manager position that will be filled by Ferndale, Washington Assistant City Administrator Sam Taylor. Morro Bay City Manager Dave Buckingham said that Sam’s hiring is unrelated to the dismissal to former Morro Bay Director of Recreation and Parks Joe Wood. Prior to working for Ferndale Sam was a local government newspaper reporter for 5-years.

Former Sunnyvale Assistant to the City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides is the new City Manager in Glenn Heights, Texas. She is originally from Fort Worth.

Former Oroville City Manager Randy Murphy, who previously worked for the Counties of Tuolumne, Glenn and Inyo, and as the Assistant City Manager in Tulare, earned a BS from the University of Phoenix and an MPA from Golden Gate University.