|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It was a day of celebration as the Redwood City Council’s seven members unanimously clapped at their regular Monday meeting after voting to approve the promotion of Patrick Heisinger to city manager, which will begin on the last day of 2025.
Selected by the council after a month-long recruitment process, Heisinger will fill the shoes of Melissa Stevenson Diaz, who has served as the city manager of Redwood City for a decade and will be retiring Dec. 31.
“I will not let you down,” Heisinger said on the podium before the council. “I promise I will work tirelessly to advance your initiatives… I’m very grateful, I’m energized and I’m ready to get to work.”
Heisinger’s incoming salary will be $390,000, which is $15,000 less than the current city manager’s.
When Stevenson Diaz started the job in October of 2023, her base salary was $379,530. Despite resident disapproval and requests that the city spend its dollars on needed programs rather than additional pay increases for top administrators, the City Council unanimously approved a 10% salary increase for Stevenson Diaz.
By 2026, Stevenson Diaz’s retirement benefits will be covered under the 2% at 60 CalPERS miscellaneous formula. The specifics of her benefit calculations are handled directly by CalPERS and are not recorded by the city, according to Jennifer Yamaguma, the deputy city manager.
Yearly, the City Council will conduct an annual, and sometimes quarterly, evaluation of Heisinger’s performance, which will include performance-based salary adjustments, according to the city’s employment contract. Professional dues and travel expenses are among the costs the city will cover, including a professional development allowance of $2,400.
The city manager may resign or be terminated following 30 days written notice. He would receive a severance pay of nine months his monthly base pay, which would be $303,750, plus the equivalent of nine months of 401(a) contributions and city-sponsored health, dental and vision benefits premiums.
Heisinger has served as the assistant city manager since 2024, overseeing the city’s many divisions, including transportation, housing, economic development, real estate, and community building. He’s spearheaded updates to the city’s business license tax, affordable housing ordinance, and tenant protection ordinance, as well as the implementation of the city’s economic development work plan.
The incoming city manager has also helped hire more than 20 new city employees and reorganize city departments, while leading the Hopeful Horizons Ordinance to address encampments on public property. Heisinger has been responsible for more than $64 million in capital funding across seven areas in the city.
“You have a positive, can-do attitude that has been on full display for the last three years,” Vice Mayor Kaia Eakin said of Heisinger at the meeting on Monday. “Your energy is infectious… I’m very supportive of this staff recommendation.”
Stevenson Diaz announced her retirement on June 24, in a press release, calling her tenure in Redwood City “an honor and a joy.” Under her leadership, the city began construction of the Veterans Memorial Building and Senior Center. She also advocated for a project to reconstruct State Route 84/Highway 101, aiming to reduce congestion and create safer pathways for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.
Heisinger’s first day as city manager will be on Dec. 31.
