The Riverside City Council Tuesday unanimously voted in closed session to appoint Tom Hatch as the interim city manager while the city continues its search for a permanent replacement. Councilmembers Steve Hemenway and Chuck Conder were absent.
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“I’m so honored by your vote and trust that you put in me,” Hatch told the city council during its July 28 public meeting. “I’m going to work very hard to make you very proud of that vote and work very closely with you, and I’m excited about the opportunity.”
While in the role, Hatch said he would focus on three key assignments: keep ongoing projects and council priorities moving forward, make good long-term decisions in the best interest of the city of Riverside and assist the council and city staff as they prepare for the next city manager.
Hatch has spent more than 30 years in public service. From 2011 to 2018 he served as city manager for Costa Mesa and was previously the chief human resources officer for Orange County.
And while he officially retired in 2022, Hatch served as interim city manager for multiple cities, including Santa Fe Springs and Santa Ana, temporarily taking the reins as the communities searched for permanent replacements.
“It was one of those things where I was ready to work again,” Hatch said in an interview with The Riverside Record after being asked why he applied to Riverside’s interim city manager role. “In those last few assignments, I was really good, and so then I feel like those skills can be utilized.”
Hatch added that Riverside is the 12th public agency he has worked with in his career. This experience, Councilmember Steven Robillard said, gives the city the stability it needs while the search continues for its next top administrative official.
“In the coming months, the council will create opportunities for community input regarding the leadership profile and qualities that are most important for the city’s next municipal leader,” Robillard said.
Hatch is set to begin work Friday at a rate of $195.05 per hour. His employment with the city is set to expire on July 31, 2027, or when a new city manager is hired, whichever comes first. Since he is a retiree under the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Hatch is also limited to a total of 960 hours of work with a public agency during a fiscal year.
He will also not receive any additional benefits, according to the city, which includes paid vacation, sick leave or holidays.
Hatch will replace current interim City Manager Edward Enriquez, which Robillard said would allow Enriquez to return to his normal duties as the assistant city manager and chief financial officer.
Enriquez was placed in the temporary role by the city shortly after former City Manager Mike Futrell announced last month he was stepping down. Futrell’s resignation came the same day the council was scheduled to meet in closed session to discuss potential disciplinary action.
That same day, the city announced it approved an agreement that placed Futrell on administrative leave and reached a settlement with his spouse after she had announced on social media the week prior that she submitted a government claim alleging constitutional rights violations.
The search for the next city manager has also officially begun, according to recently-hired City Attorney James Johnson, who said the job listing was recently posted online after the council directed the move in closed session.
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In the continuing theme of offering no or limited transparency into their decision-making, Mr. Hatch’s name was revealed to the public by the Council moments before the passage of his contract last night, giving the public no meaningful opportunity to vet the man and offer feedback. The same folks who picked and/or extended the contracts of our last City Manager and Attorney, who were run out of town, must believe the third time’s the charm.