Donna Gayden resigns as city manager

The search for a new city manager in Long Beach will begin soon, after the surprise announcement Tuesday night that Donna Gayden, who has held the post for almost three years, has resigned, effective immediately.

Gayden, 62, who has a year remaining on her contract, will be temporarily replaced by city Police Commissioner Ron Walsh, who will hold both posts until a new city manager can be found. Only one other city official, Michael Tangney, served as both police commissioner and city manager, for a short time in 2017. Tangney died in March 2022, years after he retired from city employ.

Gayden, who led the city through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, settled a multi-million-dollar lawsuit brought by developer Sinclair Haberman and helped revive the city’s shaky finances, was not at Tuesday night’s regular council meeting.

Corporation Council Rich Berrios said at the beginning of the meeting that while Gayden’s contract was not set to expire until December 2023, she and the City Council had held discussions about ending it early.

“Now was the time to transition to another organizational structure,” Berrios said.

While a number of people at the meeting expressed surprise, a pathway to Gayden’s exit had been created last November, when council President Karen McInnis appointed a committee to look into a possible replacement for Gayden should she decide to leave before her contract expired.

In a news release Tuesday night, the city stated that Gayden leaves her position “in accordance with the central terms and conditions of the agreement signed between her and the council, except for a provision for healthcare for the next six months in exchange for a general release and her waiver of separation payments, in accordance with the personnel code.” She will receive six months’ severance pay, and has agreed to assist during the transition period.

Gayden was hired in February 2020, and signed a new contract in November 2021. That contract included a base salary of $203,000, a $13,000 increase over her initial pay.

She was unavailable for comment Wednesday, according to city spokesman John McNally.

In a statement distributed Tuesday night, Gayden said, “The work is never done, but I truly believe that I have achieved everything I was brought here to do.”

She was credited with improving city operations, making progress on bargaining with the police and firefighters unions, which have been working without contracts for years, and improving communications with Long Beach residents.

Several council members, including John Bendo, praised Gayden Tuesday night. “I’m the one who found Donna and convinced her to come here,” Bendo said. “That’s probably the best decision I have ever made in my time on this council.”

McInnis added, “Donna arrived in Long Beach at one of our lowest moments, which also happened to be the start of the pandemic, and all of the uncertainties that it brought. She worked tirelessly over the next nearly three years, developed an operating budget that did not rely on borrowing, while carrying a surplus that is indicative of dramatically improved financial health.”

Gayden, a municipal financial expert who had previously worked in the Midwest, took over in Long Beach just before the coronavirus crisis began. All public meetings were transmitted on Zoom, and the city followed guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding masks.

During her tenure, Gayden appeared at numerous sporting and community events. She was clearly not a politician or politically connected, and in public maintained a professional demeanor.

When she arrived, she found the city in dire financial shape, criticized by the state comptroller for shoddy practices when it came to the issuance of separation payments and pensions for former employees.

Wall Street rated the city’s bonds at one step above junk. And Haberman had filed a $130 million suit against the city, claiming it had failed to support his proposal to build condominiums off the boardwalk.

Now, less than three years after Gayden’s tenure began, the city is no longer in financial crisis, according to the comptroller’s office. Wall Street has posted more positive reviews of its finances. Haberman settled for $75 million, and that matter was closed.

The city confirmed that Walsh would continue to serve as police commissioner, but that Long Beach would also expand the duties of some police officers “in acknowledgment of his work as acting city manager.”