Trackdown Management’s City Manager Newsletter: Volume No. 19: Issue No. 08
For over 15 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.
Picking Up the Pieces
Fullerton City Manager Eric J. Levitt is the new San Bernardino City Manager. Eric has been with Fullerton since 2021. He is scheduled to start in San Bernardino on August 4. Eric served three years as the Alameda city manager from 2019. He was Simi Valley city manager from May 2013 to April 2019. He worked for cities in Vermont, Ohio, Arizona and Wisconsin prior to coming to Simi Valley. He earned a BA and MPA from the University of Kansas.
Jennifer Lampman is the new Placentia City Administrator. Jennifer came to work for Placentia in April 2022 as Director of Finance. In March 2025 she was promoted to Deputy City Administrator. Previous to her Placentia service, she was Finance Director for the city of Fountain Valley, and she worked for Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Riverside. Jennifer earned a BA in urban studies and planning from the University of California, San Diego and an MPA from California State University, Fullerton.
Doria Wilms has been named city manager for the City of Desert Hot Springs. Doria is a 40-plus years resident of Desert Hot Springs, and a longtime city employee. Doria has worked in the city manager’s office since 2016. She became Assistant City Manager in 2019 and then to Deputy City Manager in 2021. She has been serving as Interim City Manager since City Manager Frank Luckino resigned earlier this year. She also served as Interim City Manager following Luke Rainey’s resignation in 2023.
Hermosa Beach has retained Steve Napolitano to serve as their Interim City Manager. Steve is currently an attorney in private practice. He served as a Senior Deputy to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.
Hermosa Beach Public Works Director Joe SanClemente has been interim city manager since former City Manager Suja Lowenthal left office on May 8 after serving as the Hermosa Beach city manager for seven years.
Chula Vista City Manager Maria Velarde Kachadoorian will retire in October. Maria has served as city manager for the past five years. She began her public service career working in the Office of the Auditor and Controller for the County of San Diego. She joined the Chula Vista city staff in 1998 in the Finance Department and worked her way up to Director of Finance, Deputy City Manager and Assistant City Manager before she was selected to serve as city manager starting in 2020.
PJ Gagajena will succeed City Manager Troy Brown in the City of Moorpark. PJ has served as the Moorpark Assistant City Manager for the past five years. In 1999, PJ worked as a Policy Analyst in New York City. He was hired in July 2000 to be a Field Representative for California State Assembly Member George Nakano. He was hired by the City of Torrance as a Management Aide, and in May 2005 PJ took an Analyst position with the City of Los Angeles where he worked for 11 years. In May 2016, he took the Administrative Services Manager and Economic Development Manager for the City of Indio. He was hired in Moorpark as Assistant City Manager in April 2020. PJ earned a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Masters degrees in urban & regional planning and another in public policy from Harvard University. In 2023 he received a 20 Year ICMA Service Award.
Alexander P. Meyerhoff began his public service career as a Principal Planner for the City of Palm Springs in April 2001. In April 2005, he was hired to be the Community Development Director for Twentynine Palms. Alex was appointed city manager for the city of Holtville, the birthplace of former Assemblyman Joe A. Gonsalves, starting in July 2011. He was the Community Development Director in Desert Hot Springs in 2014-2015, before becoming the Hemet city manager in January 2016. He became the city manager for San Fernando in September 2017. Alex was Interim City Manager in Yakima, Washington in 2019-2020.
Chris Mann is the Interim City Manager for Wildomar. Chris served as the Yucaipa city manager from 2023 to 2025. Prior to Yucaipa, Chris was the Canyon Lake city manager for 4 years starting in March 2019. He was an elected member of the Board and served as President for the Yucaipa Valley Water District starting in December 2016. Chris was a member of the City Council and served as Mayor for the City of Westlake Village from 1999 to 2003. He has a BS in psychology from California Lutheran University, and an MPA from San Diego State University.
Milan Mrakich is the new West Covina city manager. Milan replaces dismissed City Manager Paulina Morales, who served as city manager since May 2024. Milan previously served as the West Covina Director of Public Safety.
Shorts
- Monte Sereno’s Interim City Manager Diane Perkins has been promoted to the City Manager position.
- Malibu City Council Member Haylynn Conrad reached out as she explores recruitment for a new Malibu city manager.
- Zack Reda, Senior Management Analyst for San Mateo, served as a Summer Intern from May to August 2015 for the Westmoreland Wildlife Sanctuary at Mt. Kisco, New York.
- Concord City Manager Valerie Barone served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nagpana, Panay Island, Philippines in 1987 1989.
- Trackdown joins the family and many friends of retired American Canyon Parks and Recreation Director Randy Davis wishing him a very Happy 70th Birthday.
- Whitney McDonald, formerly with Richards Watson & Gershon (RWG), served as Arroyo Grande city manager in 2020-2023, prior to her appointment to the San Luis Obispo city manager position in August 2024.
- Former Fountain Valley city manager (2013-2017) Bob Hall, who maintains an executive recruitment service, served as Interim City Manager in Stanton (2018-2019) and Laguna Niguel (2019).
- Retired Monterey Park City Manager Ron Bow, served in the United States Air Force for more than 24 years starting in February 1981.
- Christine Crawford, who studied at Northwestern University, and earned a BA in geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MA in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is the Executive Officer for Yolo County LAFCO.
- Newport, Oregon, City Manager Nina Vetter, an ICMA Tranter-Leong Fellowship Award recipient, participated in an ICMA fellowship exchange in Ahmedabad, India.
- Brentwood Chief of Police Tim Herbert, after more than three decades of public service, has announced his retirement effective September 5, 2025.
- HdL Companies’ Andy Nickerson, who is from Vista, is living in The Woodlands, Texas.
- Elizabeth W. Hull, who earned a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, is the City Attorney for the City of Paso Robles.
- James Bezek, who earned a BA in architecture from Virginia Tech, is a Principal Management Analyst for Solano County, where he has worked for nearly 17 years.