As the West Covina City Council searches for a permanent replacement for ousted city manager Chris Chung, they have tapped the former CEO of Orange County to manage the city in the interim.
Thomas Mauk served as Orange County’s top executive from 2004 until 2012 and as Whittier’s city manager for nearly two decades before that. He also briefly served as La Habra’s city manager. His contract in West Covina began Tuesday after the council approved his hiring
“My goals are to come in and help with some of these staffing issues they’ve had and get projects before the council for consideration,” Mauk told the San Gabirel Valley Tribune. “I’ll get started right away in getting to know the players and talking to the City Council about some of the things they’d like to accomplish.”
The contract is for six months. Mauk is set to make $93.75 per hour, which would be an annual salary of $195,000.
“Mauk comes into the city during a tumultuous period for the city of roughly 110,000,” the paper reports. “West Covina has lost key department heads in the past year, including its finance director, public works director and soon its city clerk. The exit of those employees and Chung came around the time a state controller’s audit began in the city to look into “questionable” financial reports. Mauk’s extensive background will serve the city well while it deals with the audit and hiring replacements for key roles, Spence said.
“The interim position comes after the city announced earlier this month that Chung and the city agreed he would leave the post he’d served in for the past two years. His ouster followed the overturning of West Covina’s City Council last year and the removal of long-time City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman.”