David Wilson, the current West Hollywood Assistant City Manager, has been confirmed as the new City Manager. He succeeds the current City Manager, Paul Arevalo, who announced his retirement earlier this year. West Hollywood City Council approved an initial 30-month contract with two 1-year options to renew for Wilson.
Wilson will be the first African-American City Manager in West Hollywood history. David earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and received his Masters degree in Planning from the School of Policy, Planning and Development at USC.
David has worked his way up the ladder at West Hollywood City Hall.
Prior to becoming the Assistant City Manager, he was the Director of Finance. He also serves as the city’s Chief Risk Manager. Before that, he served as the City’s Budget and Compensation Manager, and he has been part of West Hollywood City Hall for over 18 years.
Current City Manager Paul Arevalo will assume his Zoom chair at the June 21st meeting for his last city council meeting. He will continue to work through the expiration of his contract on July 7, at which point David Wilson will become the official City Manager.
The initial contract approved unanimously by the City Council is for a 30-month term with two 12-month renewals options on Jan. 7, 2024, and Jan. 7, 2025.
His base salary is $329,250 through Jan. 7, 2023, and then adjusted to $345,712.50, with further adjustments on Jan. 7, 2024, to $362,998.13, and on Jan. 7, 2025 to $381,148.03. In addition there is Deferred Compensation of 5 percent of the base salary, auto and business reimbursement of $250 per month, and $100 per month for technology/cellphone offset.
The $250 per month and $100 cell expense are identical to Mr. Wilson’s current benefit package. His other benefits remain unchanged but include his healthcare package, current sick days, vacation time, severance as allowed, or contributions to the PERS, Public Employee Retirement System.
In choosing Mr. Wilson to be the full-time City Manager the City Council opted to close what could have been an extensive hiring process. No other candidates were considered.
Some of these comments indicate that you only know the truth if you actually work at a city. 1) There is usually an ol’ boys group at the top. They elevate/protect each other. City councils do this for them also. 2) Those at the top don’t even live in the city they work for. They take their paycheck and go home to the ‘burbs with it. 3) City councils don’t care if city employees are unhappy. They don’t want to acknowledge corruption. 4) To the person who thinks a city isn’t about making money, you are incorrect here. We’ve actually… Read more »
This comment is not directed towards Mr. Wilson or any other specific city employee. Once ensconced and entrenched, it is nearly impossible to dislodge one of these individuals. It is a near incestuous atmosphere meaning: as per Oxford Dictionary “(of human relations generally) excessively close and resistant to the outside influence of others”. * Those others are us, the residents of the city. Although there are positions available on commissions, advisory boards and task forces, the amount of power is negligible and often serves to keep people busy while they feel they are working towards a nearly unattainable goal. What… Read more »
Wow. It really pays to be in public service. The city should really learn from the private sector. Base salary should be significantly lower with the ability to earn the total compensation above based on measures or goals/achievements of the city. If the city is successful, then the city manager should be too. If the city isn’t, then the city manager shouldn’t be as highly compensated. Raises too should be based on his success as a city manager and should be approved on an annual basis. Why are we already approving future raises when he hasn’t even started?!?!?
Nate, If you duplicate the private sector then it may be more expensive for the City to have any type of manager. Consider the benefits and the millions of dollars every time a company hits a target. Also, The City is not to make money rather to provide services. There is no comparison between the public and private sector. If the City is to make money, then your taxes will be a lot higher, and the community will be paying for public services. Therefore, approving salary increases are a way to insure stability, and it will lower the costs of… Read more »
A fair question might be, why is the salary of the city manager in a city the size of WEHO so out of line in comparison with others and equal positions. How did that happen?
I disagree. A private company’s CEO is paid based on certain metrics, including how much his/her company makes. The City doesn’t make “profits”, so I agree that the City Manager shouldn’t be measured based on profits. The City provides services, so the City Manager’s compensation should be tied to how good the City provides those services. The private sector pays based on performance; the City should do the same. As for future increases, it’s crazy to think that the City Manager is going to walk away from such a high paying job. If he was paid based on performance, the… Read more »
[…] the Council was able to confirm David Wilson as WeHo’s next City Manager, the internet outage left them unable to address other big items on the agenda, including a […]