Chance meeting leads city manager to Poway

By Steve Dreyer

A chance late-January meeting with a professional recruiter at a governmental conference is the reason Dan Singer will go to work June 1 as Poway’s new city manager.

Singer, city manager of Goleta since 2005, bumped into Terri Black-Brann at a California League of Cities city manager’s conference in Long Beach. Black-Brann had been hired by the Poway City Council to recruit candidates for the position vacated with the retirement of Penny Riley.

“She asked me why I hadn’t applied,” Singer said. “I told her I was unaware of the opening.”

Black had Singer’s resume the following day, just under the deadline. It joined a pile of 64 other applications. That field was narrowed to a half-dozen candidates who were brought in to be interviewed by all five city councilmen. A couple of the hopefuls, including Singer, were asked back for second interviews.

“Dan was the council’s unanimous choice,” Mayor Don Higginson said in the press release announcing the new city manager. “He is a veteran city manager who is highly qualified and will be wonderful addition to city staff and the Poway community.”

On Tuesday night the City Council voted 5-0 to hire Singer. All five members praised his skills and predicted that Singer will be a good fit for “The City in the Country.”

Singer, who starts June 1, said he’s looking forward to getting to know Poway, and to a shorter daily commute. Before working in Goleta, he spent 12 years as city manager in Ojai, about 50 minutes away. He took the Goleta job but maintained his Ojai home where he and his wife, Olga, were raising two sons.

What did Singer know about Poway?

“Mostly that Rod Gould had been there for a number of years,” Singer said. “Rod is highly respected in our profession.” Gould followed Jim Bowersox as city manager and stayed for four years before becoming city manager in Santa Monica in early 2010.

Singer said that Goleta contracts with either the City or County of Santa Barbara for most municipal services and that he’s looking forward to working for a city that has it own public safety, recreation, public works and water departments.

“This is going to be a comfortable step for me,” he said, adding that he expects to remain in Poway at least five or six years, if not longer. Singer recently turned 50.

He said he also likes the fact that Poway is a bit off the main path, somewhat like Ojai.

“I like the fact that it’s removed from Interstate 15. You have to get there intentionally,” Singer said.

He would not comment on his relationship with his current City Council. Singer found himself in the awkward position last November of not getting a three-year extension on his contact. Rather, following several long closed-session meetings, the council gave him only one additional year. He and his wife had decided to sell their home earlier last year and have been renting it from the new owner.

He described his management style as being “very participatory.” He said he prefers to “touch on all aspects of government but not be an expert in any one of them.” He also said he tends to “surround myself with good people.”

Singer received master’s degrees in political science and public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University.

Singer said he and his wife will soon start the process of looking for a place to live. The parents of two young adults, they will be “empty nesters” for the first time, he said.

Employment contract details

• It is a three-year contract, running through May 2017.

• Singer will start at $219,950 per year, about $8,000 less than what Riley was making but $17,000 more than his Goleta salary. His salary will increase by 2.75 percent if he receives a positive review by the council after 90 days. Quarterly evaluations will follow throughout his first year.

• He will receive the same health plan options as other management employees.

• The city will contribute $15,750 per year into a deferred compensation plan.

• He will receive a temporary housing allowance of $2,500 per month for three months while he looks for a house. The allowance can be extended for up to three additional months.

• He will receive a monthly auto allowance of $633.33.

• He will receive a monthly technology allowance of $150 for cell phones, computers and related items.

• He will pay 7 percent of his salary into the city’s retirement plan, the same as other management employees.