Hermosa Beach council appoints Steven Napolitano as interim city manager after contentious public debate

The Hermosa Beach City Council voted on May 27 to approve an at‑will employment services agreement with Steven Napolitano to serve as interim city manager while the city conducts a search for a permanent hire.

The appointment drew lengthy public comment and debate about the council’s process for filling the city’s top administrative post after the recent departure of the prior city manager. Council members who supported the hire said the city needed immediate leadership to manage ongoing work — including the budget and capital projects — and that Napolitano’s decades of local government experience made him a practical choice. Opponents and many public speakers pressed the council for a competitive, transparent recruitment and questioned whether the short timeline and closed‑session discussions created the appearance of a prearranged outcome.

Napolitano’s proposed interim compensation was disclosed in the staff report: an annualized rate equivalent to $240,000 (expressed in staff materials as an hourly rate), paid under an at‑will employment services agreement that does not include regular city employee benefits but is conditioned on standard pre‑employment checks. Human Resources staff told the council the appointment would also require amending the publicly posted salary schedule so temporary pay information is transparent and compliant with pension reporting rules.

Council debate focused less on Napolitano’s résumé than on process and community trust. Multiple residents who addressed the council criticized the decision to proceed without a public search or visible interview process for the interim post; several urged the council to release closed‑session minutes or a fuller explanation of the reasons the prior city manager left. Supporters of the appointment, including some business leaders and longtime residents, said Napolitano’s record of municipal experience in neighboring cities would help the council get back to regular governance quickly.

City staff told the council they are already soliciting proposals from executive search firms to run the forthcoming permanent city manager recruitment and expect that process to include broad community engagement, a recruitment brochure, candidate screening and interviews. Staff estimated a full executive recruitment typically yields a candidate slate in roughly 60–90 days after a search firm is engaged and the posting is live, and that adoption of a final hire would likely extend beyond that.

Human Resources clarified technical details of the interim employment package during the meeting: the appointment is a conditional offer pending background clearance and medical/lifescans; the agreement is at‑will and hourly, and it does not include the standard benefit package available to regular city employees. Staff described the interim appointment as a short‑term solution to provide executive leadership while the council directs a permanent recruitment.

The council’s vote followed public comment from residents who both supported and opposed the selection. Speakers who urged caution asked the council to explain closed session deliberations and to commit to a competitive permanent search. Others praised Napolitano’s experience and urged the council to move quickly to stabilize city administration.

Council members also discussed ways to make the forthcoming permanent recruitment as open and rigorous as possible, including using an executive recruiter, adopting written candidate criteria and considering a public‑facing recruitment process with a community panel or public interviews. Staff said they would return to the council with search‑firm proposals and a recommended recruitment plan.

The interim appointment is effective once the conditional checks are complete; staff said they would proceed immediately to on‑board the interim manager to reduce disruption to daily operations and the near‑term work program.

Why it matters: The city manager oversees all department heads and the administration of the city’s budget and projects. Filling the post — even temporarily — affects how the city responds to immediate operational challenges and whether the public perceives the selection process as transparent. The council faces both near‑term operational demands and longer‑term decisions about how to structure a competitive permanent search.

What’s next: Staff will solicit proposals from executive search firms and return to council with a recommended recruitment plan and timeline for the permanent city manager search. The interim manager will serve at the council’s pleasure while the recruitment is carried out.