After 22 years, Carpinteria’s city manager will retire and the search for his replacement has begun.

In January, City Manager Dave Durflinger announced that he will retire at the end of this calendar year. In preparation for his retirement, a committee was formed from two members of the City Council to begin the search for his successor.

“The council needs to anticipate and develop a process for city manager succession,” Durflinger said, “setting the process to ultimately hire a new city manager and ideally have some overlap time.”

The committee tasked with finding someone to replace Durflinger will consist of Councilman Wade Nomura and Vice Mayor Natalia Alarcon.

Nomura and Alarcon will identify the attributes they deem important in the next city manager and create a sort of profile for the next city manager.

Then, they will recommend candidates they believe will fit the profile of city manager and present their recommendation at a City Council meeting.  

Initially, Mayor Al Clark wanted to be on the committee, but rescinded his offer after Nomura and Alarcon both expressed interest in being on the council.

Councilman Roy Lee nominated Nomura and Alarcron.

The City Council approved increasing the next city manager’s annual compensation from an annual base wage of $186,861.10 to $206,014.36. 

The raise is due to a 5% market adjustment consistent with market conditions and citywide adjustments as well as a 5% cost-of-living increase.

The city manager is tasked with overseeing the operations of the city and reports to the City Council. The city manager leads the management team and all city departments, including Community Development, Parks & Recreation, Public Works, Administrative Services and General Government, according to the City of Carpinteria.