Riverside Opens City Manager Recruitment, Names Lee McDougal to Interim Post
Published: 04/20/2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 20, 2018
Contact:
Phil Pitchford
Communications Officer
951-826-5975
Riverside Opens City Manager Recruitment, Names Lee McDougal to Interim Post
Move marks a return for veteran administrator who served in interim role in Riverside three years ago
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The City of Riverside is bringing back a familiar face to serve as Interim City Manager and will focus the recruitment for the position on existing city employees.
Lee McDougal, who served as Interim City Manager in Riverside about three years ago, will return to that position on Monday. The decision came during a special City Council meeting this morning (4/20).
“The City Council voted unanimously to open the recruitment process for the position of City Manager to all qualified internal candidates,” Mayor Pro Tem Chris MacArthur and City Councilmember Jim Perry said in a joint statement. “Separately, the City Council also voted unanimously to appoint Lee McDougal as our Interim City Manager, effective Monday, April 23.”
The City Council hopes to have all interviews completed and a new City Manager appointed by mid-May, MacArthur and Perry said.
McDougal served as Interim City Manager in Riverside from December, 2014 to May, 2015. He spent much of his career in Montclair, where he was City Manager for 18 years before retiring in 2010. In Riverside, McDougal replaces John A. Russo, whose employment was terminated on Tuesday.
“Lee McDougal is a high-caliber individual who is very well equipped to continue the momentum we are experiencing in Riverside,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said. “We know from his previous service here that he is very capable and well-respected in our community.”
McDougal spent 34 years in Montclair, starting as Housing Coordinator in 1976, then advancing to Director of Housing and Redevelopment, then Director of Administrative Services/Redevelopment Department before being named City Manager in 1992. He also served as Public Safety Director and Redevelopment Agency Executive Director.
In Montclair, McDougal was credited with overseeing the efficient operation of all city services, while also opening a youth center, the Montclair Police Department building and a senior center. He also focused on using redevelopment to finance an on-ramp to Interstate 10, widening local streets and bringing auto dealers and other sales-tax generators to Montclair.
“Riverside is a wonderful community, and I look forward to working again with such a committed group of elected officials, business leaders and residents,” McDougal said. “I know from my previous service in the city that Riverside is on a great path, and I’m pleased to be a part of that again.”
McDougal graduated from UC Riverside in 1974 with a B.A. in Urban Studies and a B.A. in Black Studies. In 1988, he was inducted into the UC Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments as a member of the UCR basketball team.
McDougal has served as an elected board member and President of the Chaffey Community College Governing Board; Past President of the UCR Alumni Association and in leadership roles on a number of non-profit organizations, including many that are devoted to providing affordable housing.
McDougal will be paid $135.53 per hour.
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