Trackdown ManagementTrackdown Management’s City Manager Newsletter: Volume No. 19: Issue No. 17

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

Santa Rosa Deputy City Manager Gloria Hurtado is the 2025 recipient of the ICMA Award for Career Development in Memory of L. P. Cookingham. She has been the Deputy City Manager since 2015. Prior to joining the Santa Rosa city staff, Gloria served as Assistant City Manager for the City of San Antonio, Texas, and before that she worked for Phoenix, Arizona.

Chico City Manager Mark Sorensen is set to retire in June 2026. Mark held various roles in Chico. He was appointed city manager and Finance Director in July 2022. He previously was city manager for the City of Biggs. Mark is a former Mayor and City Council Member for the city of Chico. California State University, Long Beach is a top training ground for city managers.

The December 2025 Beach Monthly newsletter for alumni, families and friends posted an article by Wendy Thomas Russell regarding the education of city managers in California. A 2025 Rose Institute survey ranks CSULB as the No. 2 producer of city managers statewide. Six percent of current city managers in California earned their highest degrees at CSULB. Wendy highlights Oceanside City Manager Jonathan Borrego as a CSULB alumnus in her article.

Anna Garan began her new job as Director of Finance for the city of Bellower in September 2025. Anna joined the Bellflower city staff in 2014 as a Finance Analyst. Before her promotion to Director, she worked as a Senior Accountant and Finance Manager. Anna is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and she earned a BA in business administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University, Long Beach.

City Manager Christopher Lopez of California City is resigning his position effective January 3, 2026. Chris was appointed city manager in February 2025, and he has now accepted a position with the City of Cudahy. When he was hired in California City he was the eighth city manager in the city in the past three years. He began his working career with a land development company in Riverside. He served as Interim City Manager for the City of Livingston in 2023.

Lori Ann Farrell was retained to serve as Interim City Manager following the exit of Santa Rosa City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, who is leaving in January to work for the City of Sacramento. Lori Ann recently served as the City Manager for the City of Costa Mesa. Prior to her Costa Mesa tenure, she worked nine years as the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant City Manager for the city of Huntington Beach. Lori Ann also previously worked for the City of Long Beach. She earned an MPA from Columbia University.

Bainbridge Island, Washington, city manager Blair King, who previously retired as the city manager in Coronado, retired again in November. This time from the Washington city. He started working for Bainbridge Island in 2021. His last day is scheduled for Friday, January 30, 2026.

Cupertino has a new city manager. Serving Interim City Manager since May 2025, Tina Kapoor has been hired to serve as Cupertino’s permanent city manager. Prior to joining Cupertino, Tina she worked in economic development for the cities of Fremont and San Jose. She immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1999. Tina earned a BA from Ohlone College and another BA from Delhi University.

Behind the retirement of well thought of and longtime city manager for Redwood City, Melissa Stevenson Diaz on December 31, 2025, Patrick Heisinger has been hired as the next city manager for Redwood City. Pat came to work for the city as Assistant City Manager in July 2023. He previously worked as Assistant City Manager for the City of East Palo Alto. He was the East Palo Alto Interim City Manager from April 2022 until February 2023. He has prior experience with San Jose, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara, and the County of Santa Cruz Planning, Pat earned a BA from the University of Redlands, and MA’s from the University of Redlands and San Jose State University.

Poway Assistant City Manager Wendy Kaserman was hired to be the Santee city Manager starting on October 23, 2025. Wendy succeeds Marlene Best, who served Santee for nearly a decade. Wendy served as Assistant City Manager for the City of Poway from September 2016. Before her time in Poway, Wendy served in key administrative and finance management positions in the City of San Marcos and the Town of Queen Creek, Arizona. She earned a BA in Political Science from Arizona State University and an MPA from the University of Arizona.

Chris Gorsky is the new City Administrator for the City of Sonora. Chris became City Administrator effective December 1st as City Administrator Melissa Eads moves to the City of Dixon as the assistant city manager. Chris is currently serving as both the Assistant City Administrator and Finance Director for Sonora. Melissa served as City Administrator starting in July 2022. Prior to joining the Sonora city staff, Melissa was the City Administrator for Angels Camp for nearly four years.

Laura Snideman is the new South San Francisco city manager beginning in January 2026. Laura began her public service career in San Carlos in September 2001. She was the Economic Development Manager for San Mateo from July 2006 to November 2009. She worked for Half Moon Bay in 2009-2010 as an Administrative Officer before becoming the City Manager in December 2010. Laura worked in Half Moon Bay until March 2014. She took the Executive Office position for LAFCO for about a year, before becoming the Assistant City Manager for the City of Fairfield. She was appointed Richmond city manager in January 2020 and worked in that position until December 2021. Laura was appointed city manager for the City of Calistoga starting in February 2022. She earned a BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and an MPA from Notre Dame, and in 2020 she received a 20-Year ICMA Service Award.

Pamela J. Nicolai served as the City Manager for the City of San Rafael in the early 1990s. She was appointed city manager in December 1985. She joined the San Rafael city staff in 1979 as the Assistant to the City Manager. She became Assistant City Manager in September 1982. After leaving San Rafael, Pam served as the General Manager for the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD).

California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Public Policy & Administration Professor Adam Butz, when speaking about the city manager position, said, “It’s a uniquely high executive-level position. The city manager stands alone. It’s like the top of the mountain.” A 2025 Rose Institute survey ranks CSULB as the No. 2 producer of city managers statewide. Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto ’98 agreed. “Everywhere I go, I run into city managers who went to Long Beach. It’s a quiet program that turns out success.”

Pinole’s city manager is seeking a new career path after serving just 15 months as city manager. City Manager Kelcey Young resigned with her last day November 28, 2025. Kelcey was appointed Pinole city manager in August 2024. She served as the city manager of Sweet Home, Oregon from September 2022 until August 2024. Prior to that she worked as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Clearlake. Kelcey earned a BA and a Master’s degree in Social Science from Humboldt State University.

A. J. Wilson is the lead ICMA Senior Advisor in California. A.J. served as Interim Airport Director for the San Bernardino International Airport Authority in 2011. Previously in his working career he worked in airport operations in St. Louis and Kansas City. He served as city manager in Santa Ana from 1980 to 1983, before he went to Kansas City where he resigned from that city manager position in 1984. He worked as the city manager for the city of Pomona from in 1988-1989.

Since retiring as the Lafayette city manager in December 2018, Steven B. Falk has served as an “Interim” city manager in Richmond, Oakland, and Hercules. He started in Long Beach in 1986.

Darin Gale is the next Pittsburg city manager. Darin has been working as the Brentwood Assistant City Manager since January 2022. He was the Interim City Manager in Brentwood from April to November 2025. He previously served as a U.S. House of Representatives Field Representative (2001-2003). He worked for the Sacramento Chamber and with the California Restaurant Association and the BIA. In 2009 he joined the city staff in Yuba City as Economic Development Manager. He worked as Deputy City Manager there from January 2018 to July 2019. During the period from December 2019 to January 2022, Darin was a Senior Development Project Manager for the City of Sacramento. He joined the Brentwood staff following 6 and a half years of consulting based in Yuba City.

Shorts:

  • Former Los Banos and Ceres city manager and former Truckee Assistant City Manager Alex Terrazas is enjoying his work assignment with HdL Companies as Client Experience Advocate.
  • Susan S. Muranishi is the County Administrator for Alameda County and has worked in that position for 28 years.
  • Gavin C. Newsom became the California State Lieutenant Governor in January 2011, and he was first elect to serve as the California Governor starting in January 7, 2019.
  • Appointed in September 2025, Palm Desert city manager Chris Escobedo earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and an MPA from California State University, San Bernardino.
  • Troy Brown, who recently retired from the city of Moorpark retired, was awarded the CCMF 2025 City Manager of the Year Award. *Since September 2019, the Director of Finance for the City of Santa Clara has been Kenn Lee.
  • P.J. Mellana is the Bellflower Director of Parks and Recreation and has worked in the position since the retirement of Director Rich Pierce in 2012.
  • 13-year veteran of the Santa Rosa Finance Department, Scott Wagner has been selected to lead the department as the new Santa Rosa Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
  • Jarad Hildenbrand, who earned an MPA from California State University, Long Beach, is the current city manager for the City of Orange and he previously worked as city manager in the cities of Laguna Hills, Stanton, La Habra Heights and Villa Park.
  • David Lee Harris served as the City Manager for the City of Dixon from June 1978 until July 1997, and the current Dixon city manager is Jim Lindley.
  • Alan E. Harry, former Half Moon Bay Assistant City Manager, relocated to live in the Town of Truckee in 1992.
  • Howard D. Tipton, who served as Glendora city manager (1962-1969), began his tenure as the Daytona Beach, Florida city manager in October 1978, and worked there until 1994, was honored by the Florida League of Cities in 2014 with a Distinguished Public Service Award.