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National City council, after heated public comment, agrees to mutual separation with city manager; public works director named acting manager
Summary
After hours of public comment alleging fiscal mismanagement and procedural misconduct, the National City Council agreed in closed session to a mutual separation with City Manager Ben Martinez effective immediately and appointed City Engineering Director Steve Maganello as acting city manager.
The National City Council announced in a closed-session report that it and City Manager Ben Martinez have agreed to a mutual separation effective immediately, and that the council appointed Steve Maganello, the city’s director of engineering and public works, as acting city manager.
City Attorney (speaker 18) told the council after closed session that the separation is effective immediately and that the vote on the separation carried by a 3–1 margin; the city attorney reported that the appointment of Maganello as acting city manager passed unanimously, 4–0. The council also directed staff to initiate a search for an interim city manager; that directive passed 3–1 with Council Member Yamani recorded as the dissenting vote.
The votes followed a prolonged public-comment period during the special meeting, in which multiple residents and Zoom speakers pressed the council to remove Martinez. “I’m calling for the immediate removal of the city manager, Ben Martinez,” a public commenter identified in the meeting roster as Randy Castle Salgado said during the in-person comment period. Other commenters raised allegations of unauthorized reimbursements and favoritism that, they said, justified leadership change.
Council members said timing was driven in part by operational concerns and external negotiations. One council member described urgent timing tied to ongoing MSA negotiations with the port and said leadership stability was needed to protect those talks. The city attorney said there was no reportable action on the separate litigation item (Polanco v. City of National City) that was listed on the closed-session agenda.
The council’s reported actions leave several outstanding public allegations unadjudicated: commenters alleged a range of misconduct, including undisclosed reimbursements and undue influence related to a proposed Sweetwater Road development. The council’s report did not provide details of any investigation or admission of wrongdoing by Martinez; it limited the public report to the personnel outcomes and vote tallies.
The acting appointment takes effect immediately, and the council’s direction to begin a search for an interim manager sets a short procedural next step. The council did not announce a timetable for the interim search or when a permanent replacement process would be completed.
