Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has nominated Deputy City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley to the interim city manager position. Mayor Bates made the announcement Thursday, one month after City Manager Christine Daniel announced she had accepted the assistant city administrator position in Oakland.
The nomination will go before the city council for a vote on July 14. But at least one council member, Kriss Worthington, has already thrown his support behind the mayor’s pick.
"Dee Willliams-Ridley appears to blend the skills of former City Managers Phil Kamlarz and Weldon Rucker," Worthington said in an email. "Her expertise in human resources and IT fit city needs. People who have dealt with her in her first months describe her as both results-oriented and very open to listening to department heads, employees and the public."
Williams-Ridley has served as deputy city manager since February. For the previous four years she held the same position in the City of Modesto. She holds a bachelor’s degree in government from California State University, Sacramento and currently chairs the Committee on Diverse Communities at the League of California Cities.
The mayor is recommending a salary of $225,000 for Williams-Ridley—that of the current city manager—alongside a $1,600 housing allowance.
Read more about Dee Williams-Ridley here.
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