Encinitas will make its current acting city manager, Jennifer Campbell, its new permanent city manager, rather than conducting an outside recruiting search to fill the spot.
The council unanimously voted to pick Campbell during a special, closed-to-the-public session Wednesday, and will vote on her new salary and benefits package during the council’s March 19 meeting, Mayor Bruce Ehlers said Thursday. There is a council meeting next week, but that agenda has already been set, so this item will wait until the following week, he said.
Ehlers said council members had a list of qualities that they sought, ranging from experience in California city management and working with the state Coastal Commission to being fiscally responsible and not being someone who would “play one side against another.”
“In fact, she had everything, for the most part,” he said as he described items on their list.
Campbell is a high-energy, “hands-on” person who has demonstrated leadership skills both in her recent role as interim city manager and her previous role as assistant city manager, he added.
She was appointed interim city manager in mid-December after the city announced that then-City Manager Pamela Antil and the council had “amicably agreed” to end Antil’s employment. Her departure came just after the November election when the council majority changed.
As part of that shift, Ehlers was elected mayor, leaving his District 4 council seat vacant. The council has since appointed Councilmember Marco San Antonio to fill that post. The decision on who the next city manager would be was postponed for several months until the District 4 seat could be filled and all five council members could vote on the item, Ehlers noted Thursday.
Campbell first started working for the city of Encinitas in 2016; became assistant city manager in 2021; and has nearly 30 years’ experience in municipal government work, a new city press release states.
She previously worked as assistant city manger in Glendale, Ariz., and “has a strong background in parks and recreation management,” including a bachelor’s degree in recreation management and a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on public administration, the press release continues.
In that press release, Campbell stated that she was both “honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the city manager.”
While Ehlers said Thursday that he has heard plenty of praise for her management abilities and has witnessed her skills at recent city meetings, the council did receive one anonymous email from someone who appears to be a city employee who opposes the council’s hiring decision. In that email, which was attached to Wednesday’s meeting announcement, the person wrote that Campbell didn’t have the temperament for the job and the position should go either to a city employee with more experience or to someone who’s currently managing one of the other San Diego County cities.
Ehlers said he believes the emailer definitely doesn’t represent most city employees’ views.
“I’m seeing the majority of the staff very happy with the choice,” he said.
