After a 31 year career in local government, Mill Valley City Manager Alan Piombo has announced his upcoming retirement in the Fall of 2022.
Piombo joined the City of Mill Valley in 2019 as the Chief of Police and was appointed City Manager in 2020. Prior to working in Mill Valley, he worked for the San Rafael Police Department where he steadily rose through the ranks and served for ten years as a lieutenant.
“We commend Alan for his leadership over the past two years, in which his quick, smart actions helped us weather the pandemic and economic downturn. His efforts protected our community as he developed a cost-efficient budget and enacted programs to support local merchants,” said Mayor John McCauley. “I commend Alan for accomplishing a number of significant projects during his tenure and leaving the City in a strong position for the future.”
“As someone who grew up in Mill Valley and worked in the Mill Valley Police Department for 37 years, I have seen many City Managers over the years,” said Vice Mayor Jim Wickham. “Alan has to be one of the best – he is proactive, engages with the community and is someone that prioritizes and uplifts staff along the way. We are fortunate to have had him step into this role during such a challenging time and leading our City so capably.”
As City Manager, Piombo oversees a budget of approximately $32 million and an organization of 150 full-time employees across eight departments that collectively serve a community of nearly 14,000 residents. Piombo serves as the chief administrative officer of the City and provides leadership to the organization in the implementation of City Council policies.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Council and our community for entrusting me with the leadership of the City,” Piombo said. “While I could never have predicted the events that marked my tenure as City Manager, I am thankful for having such a smart, strong, and resilient Council, community, and staff team to work with to achieve our goals as a City. I am proud of the work we accomplished, and I will leave knowing the City is in a strong position for whatever comes next.”
During his tenure in Mill Valley, Piombo has guided many important community-serving efforts and projects including:
- Wildfire Preparedness & Evacuation Planning – traffic modeling and drills to test new evacuation concepts
- Affordable Housing – examining the feasibility of using City property, expanding ADUs, and kicking off the Housing Element Update
- Facilities & Infrastructure upgrades – The Downtown Project, East Blithedale project, and the Golf Course Management Agreement
- City Finances & Efficiencies – Including debt refunding, coordinating ARPA funds, Fire Department Shared Services, IT Upgrade Project, New City Website, Organizational Assessment, Compensation and Classification Study
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) – City-wide DEI initiatives impacting all spheres of City programs and services, including Public Safety, Affordable Housing, Human Resources, Arts, Recreation and Library programming
- Community Engagement – Enhanced transparency and access through the pandemic, launched a new City website, and increased presence on social media.
- COVID-19 Impacts – Budget and service reductions, pivoting services to accommodate ever-changing COVID regulations, streamlined support to the business community
“We want to thank and acknowledge Alan for his leadership and creative vision that provided invaluable support during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Paula Reynolds, the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce Director of Operations, Programs & Advocacy said. “Alan immediately dove into collaborations with colleagues across the County to meet the new challenges, and thanks to his commitment, developed a new approval process that allowed businesses to operate outdoors, remaining open amongst the ever-changing health restrictions. We are fortunate to have had Alan at the helm during this difficult time.”
Piombo looks forward to spending more time with his family, traveling, and pursuing other personal interests.
Next Steps
City Manager Piombo has retained Heather Renschler, President, Ralph Andersen & Associates to work with the City Council to conduct the recruitment for the next Mill Valley City Manager. Ms. Renschler previously worked with the City in 2020 when Mr. Piombo was appointed City Manager.
In the upcoming weeks, the City Council and Ms. Renschler will seek community input on desired qualities, characteristics, skills, and experience for the next City Manager. Mayor McCauley noted that the ideal recruitment timeline will include input and review from the current City Council and that a final review of candidates and selection will be made once new members of the City Council are seated in July.