News Brief: City Hires New Community Development Director

The city of Newport Beach has named Kimberly Brandt its new community development director.

Currently Brandt is the development services director for the city of Costa Mesa and the executive director of the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency. City Manager Dave Kiff said Brandt has more than 30 years of professional planning experience and has led a number of award-winning projects. 

“She is exceptionally well-versed in community development and municipal planning and has an innate ability to work through challenging processes and problems," Kiff said. Newport Beach recently merged its planning and building departments into a single Community Development Department.

Brandt will direct a staff of 51 full-time employees and manage an annual budget of about $7 million. Brandt's first day of work in Newport Beach is scheduled for May 23. She will earn $174,116 per year, plus benefits.