Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart to Resign

Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart will leave the city at the start of the new year to serve at the helm of the city of Bellflower.

“It’s a good career opportunity for me,” said Stewart. “Bellflower is a much bigger city.”

For two and a half battle-scarred years, Stewart ran the city under the leadership of a sharply divided City Council that had previously experienced a high turnover rate among ranking city staff. Despite the challenges of working in a politically contentious atmosphere, Stewart said he enjoyed his time working for the Los Alamitos City Council.

“This is a pretty good community. Despite the public fighting and squabbling, I hope people can see the inherent goodness on the council. They have always been supportive,” Stewart said. “All five of them up there, despite their political differences, are good people.”

In serving for nearly three years, Stewart brought stability to the helm of the city following a time when dozens of ranking city officials left the city. Stewart said his proudest accomplishments in the city include balancing the budget without cutting public safety services to meet a $600,000 shortfall and overseeing the approval of the hospital expansion plans, something he sees as key to the city’s future development.

Stewart has one more major goal he’d like to achieve before leaving Jan.2 - annexing the Rossmoor Shopping Village at the corner of Los Alamitos Boulevard and Katella Avenue.

“I’d like to expedite the process, to find a solution that everyone is happy with,” said Stewart.

Los Alamitos city officials have long wanted the corner as a commercial gateway at the crossroads of the city’s two main drags. The opportunity arose to annex it from Rossmoor this year when county officials began pressuring Rossmoor to merge with Los Alamitos. Rossmoor residents and leaders have opposed the commercial annexation, but they may not be able to stop it.

It’s one of the many issues that has divided the current City Council, which often votes 3-2 on controversial issues.

“The divided council has been difficult for (Stewart) to have to manage,” said City Councilwoman Gerri Graham-Mejia. “Jeff came into a really difficult position with the council being so contentious. For what he had to work with, he did a good job.”

As the city looks for a new city manager, Graham-Mejia said she hopes to find a candidate who is adept at serving the entire council even when it is politically divided. As a member of the council’s minority, Graham-Mejia said it’s a struggle to get community issues addressed by city staffers with the same speed that the council majority’s requests are handled. Such favoritism is a disservice to the needs of the community, she added.

“The city manager plays a very important role. They are the person who runs the city,” she said. “I’ll be looking for a candidate who is going to serve all five – not just the majority.”

As for Stewart, “He is a good guy,” said Graham-Mejia. “We wish him well.”

The Bellflower City Council unanimously voted to hire Stewart over 75 other applicants and is expected to formally approve an employment agreement on Monday.

Bellflower Mayor Scott A. Larsen praised Stewart’s track record.

“The City is very fortunate to have someone of Jeff’s high caliber join our hard-working Bellflower team. With more than 26 years of public service and an exceptional record as a leader and manager, Jeff will allow us to continue forward on the path already charted by the City Council,” he said in a written statement. “Jeff has all of the qualifications we were looking for in a new City Manager.”

Stewart will begin his new position with Bellflower on Jan. 3 with a three-year contract a starting annual salary of $190,000 plus benefits.