Trackdown Management’s City Manager newsletter: Volume No. 14, Issue No. 12
For over 13 years, Jack Simpson’s Trackdown Management has published the City Manager Newsletter. Jack is a retired city manager and former Willdan executive. His newsletter content weaves together the personal side of the profession in California and helps keep the city manager community, especially retired city managers, connected with each other.
Santa Barbara City Administrator Paul Casey will leave his position in September 2021. Paul has worked for Santa Barbara for 24- years. He joined the city staff in 2002 as the Community Development Director. For a time he held responsibilities of the Community Development Director and the Assistant City Administrator before he was appointed City Administrator in 2015, replacing the retiring Jim Armstrong. Paul says that he will continue working somewhere in some capacity but is not looking for a City Manager position.
City Manager Anna Linn of California City was awarded a compensation increase, while at the same time the City Council discussed terminating her employment agreement. Anna was hired as the Interim City Manager in April 2019, and has been working as City Manager with a three-year contract since September 2019. During open discussion one resident is quoted as saying, “Stop harassing staff and let them do their jobs.”
Celia King is the Yountville Finance Director. She has worked for the town for more than 16-years. She was promoted from Financial Analyst to Finance Director after working her way up within the Yountville Finance Department. Celia has been the Director since January 2020. Celia earned a BS in business administration.
Grand Terrace City Manager G. Harold Duffy has been appointed to serve as the Director of Public Works for the City of Oakland. Harold has been with Grand Terrace for the past 6- years. Prior to joining Grand Terrace, he served as the City Manager in the City of Compton for two and a half years. Prior to that he was the City Administrator in Oroville. Planning and Development Director Steven Weiss has been appointed Interim City Manager.
Michael “Mike” W. Parness retired as the City Manager in Napa, California in 2018. He previously served as the City Manager in San Clemente (1989-2002) and Walnut Creek (2002- 2006). Mike served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the California City Management Foundation (CCMF). In 2015 Mike received a 45-year ICMA Service Award. He currently lives in Sisters, Oregon.
Longtime Merced Economic Development Director Frank Quintero is the new Deputy City Manager in Merced. Frank has worked for the City more than 30-years. He originally joined the Merced city staff as an entry-level Planner in April 1990. Frank earned a Master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech University.
Former Manteca City Manager Miranda Lutzow and former Fire Chief Kyle Shipherd have filed two separate lawsuits against the city claiming they were required to endure a hostile work environment while employed by the city. The Fire Chief contends that Miranda, as City Manager, was responsible for creating a hostile work environment. Miranda contends that she was a victim of a hostile work environment created by Manteca City Council Member Dave Breitenbucher.
Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell hopes to get community input on hiring a City Manager to replace City Manager Greg Nyhoff who resigned in June. Greg was on medical leave for a time prior to his resignation. Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell is currently the Acting City Manager in Vallejo. Anne joined the city staff in December 2018. She previously worked for the Cities of Martinez and Benicia. Anne earned a BS in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s in educational psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
New West Hollywood City Manager David Wilson is now in office behind the retirement of former City Manager Paul Arevalo, who served as City Manager starting in 1999. David previously served as the Assistant City Manager. He has worked for the city for more than 18-years. He was the Director of Finance prior to his appointment as Assistant City Manager.
City Manager Anna Linn of California City recently received a compensation increase for her good work on the job. At the same time, the City may be considering dismissing her. Anna was named Interim City Manager in April 2019. Since September 2019 she has been working under a three-year employment agreement with the City. Her immediate predecessor Robert Stockwell resigned on May 14 and she was named Interim City Manager. She previously served as the City Manager’s Executive Assistant.
Bill Smith was the Assistant City Manager in Monterey prior to his appointment as City Manager in Manhattan Beach in June 1990. When Bill left to be the Westminster City Manager in 1994, Geoff Dolan of Colorado was hired to serve as the Manhattan Beach City Manager. Geoff previously served as the Longmont, Colorado City Manager.
[Shorts are single sentence posts.]*Lomita City Manager Ryan Smoot is the California Contract Cities Association’s City Managers/Administrators Committee Chair.
*Frank G. Tripepi, an executive with Willdan and a retired Rosemead City Manager, is a longtime member of the Board of Governors of the Claremont McKenna College Rose Institute of State and Local Government.
*Retired Indio and Claremont City Manager Glenn Southard is a Principal at Southard Consulting in the City of San Clemente.
*Former Governor Pete Wilson appointed Dale Geldert, a former Oceanside Fire Chief and Deputy City Manager, to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection in November 1996, where he served until January 1999 as Chair of the California Fire Protection Committee and the Firescope Northern Operations Committee.
*Mark Prestwich, City Manager in St. Helena and former City Manager in Nevada City, was the 2007 President of the Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC).*Randy L. Johnsen is a past Ione City Administrator.