Council approves three-year contract for new city manager

The Menifee City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a three-year contract for new City Manager Armando Villa, who will begin his duties Dec. 18.

Interim City Manager Ron Bradley, in his last Menifee City Council meeting, read the contract terms for Villa (left), who is currently serving as city manager for the City of Calexico. Villa, 52, was the unanimous choice of council members following the final round of interviews in a field that began with 45 applicants.

"Armando said it is his desire to retire in Menifee after serving as its longtime city manager," Bradley said. "I believe this was an excellent choice."

Villa began his career with the City of Lake Elsinore in 1991. Later, he was community development director for the City of Temecula from 2013-15. He holds a BS degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Cal Poly Pomona, a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Cal State San Bernardino and a Certificate in Economic Development from Fresno State.

Villa's annual base salary will be $205,000, according to city documents. He will also be eligible for retirement benefits at the rate of the City's executive management employees, which is 2.7 percent per year after age 55. In addition to receiving health benefits, Villa will receive a $350,000 life insurance policy and a temporary housing allowance up to $2,000 per month until he relocates here. Bradley said Villa has rented a townhouse in Temecula while looking for a home in Menifee.

Villa becomes Menifee's sixth city manager in nine years and its first hired on a permanent basis since Rob Johnson, who left the position under controversial circumstances in December 2016. Johnson, whose 2016 salary including benefits was $267,153, also received eight months pay in a severance package that totaled $235,491.

Johnson's departure was officially listed as a resignation, but he was allowed to collect the severance pay under a contract clause stating the City was "deemed to have terminated" him -- a clause city attorney Jeffrey Melching at the time indicated was being interpreted as equating to a "forced resignation." In addition, according to the separation agreement made public at the time, Johnson received eight months pay instead of six months because he wasn't given the 60 days' notice required for the City Council to terminate him.

Villa's contract also includes a severance package of six months pay upon termination by the City. While saying that such a severance package is fairly standard in this type of public administration contract, Melching added that Johnson's severance package was larger than the standard because of an adjustment Johnson negotiated upon his departure.

According to the terms of his contract, Villa's performance will be evaluated after six months. One of his first duties will be to hire a new financial director and community services director to replace Bruce Foltz and Robert Lennox, who left those positions the same day in September after meetings with Bradley.