Gus Vina Approved as New City Manager

Gus Vina was unanimously approved to be the new Encinitas city manager during a special session of the City Council on Tuesday night.

The process to find a new city manager was done so quickly that Mayor James Bond joked, “I don’t even know who put the meeting together.”

The council was put in charge of finding and recommending a new city manager, and after interviewing the candidates together, council members Kristin Gaspar and Teresa Barth submitted a three-page report to the council as to why Vina should be hired. Gaspar said she wanted the report to be “clear, transparent and straightforward.”

The only concern expressed by the council came from Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan, who wanted the contract to clearly state that if Vina resigned or accepted new employment elsewhere, the city would not be responsible for any severance. The contract was edited to reflect the wording.

As the vote was cast to approve the contract, Vina, his wife and his daughter sat in the first row inside council chambers.

In the last 12 years, Vina has worked as Sacramento’s interim city manager, assistant city manager, finance director and budget manager. He will be replacing exiting manager Phil Cotton, who has held the position in Encinitas for the last four years.

After the vote, the council was ready to call business to a close and move on to a special welcome reception. “Now let’s eat,” Bond said.