The community is invited to meet Redlands’ new City Manager, Charlie M. Duggan Jr., during two upcoming public receptions.
The first reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, at the Contemporary Club, 173 S. Eureka St.
The second reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at the Redlands Community Center multi-purpose room, 111 W. Lugonia Ave.
Both receptions are open to the public, and residents or other interested parties may attend either event. Light refreshments will be served.
The Redlands City Council voted Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, to appoint Duggan as Redlands City Manager effective Jan. 13, 2020, concluding an extensive recruitment process that included 44 applicants, resident and business participation and multiple community interview panels.
From 2006 to 2017, Duggan was the City Manager for the city of Auburn, Ala., a full-service city and university town, with a population of approximately 64,000 residents and its own police and fire departments, as well as parks and recreation, water, sewer and solid waste operations. Prior to his appointment as the City Manager of Auburn, Duggan had worked in various capacities for the city, beginning in 1991 as Director of Special Programs and League Director for the Parks and Recreation Department; Deputy Director, Assistant Director and Network Administrator for the Information and Technology Department; and Assistant City Manager from 2005 to 2006.
As City Manager in Auburn, Duggan introduced higher performing organizational concepts to the management team. He led the adoption of a plan to revitalize the city’s strategic commercial corridor, collaborated with the Chamber of Commerce on downtown event planning and commercial development policy improvements and implemented a development review team to foster interdepartmental cooperation and remove barriers and delays during engineering and the zoning plan approval stage. He also oversaw a team leading to the adoption of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which was awarded Best Comprehensive Plan for 2012 by the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Prior to his selection as Redlands City Manager, Duggan had been the Administrative Services Division Manager/Treasurer for the Marin Municipal Water District in Northern California.
Duggan has a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics, both from Auburn University.
The City Council selected Duggan after an extensive process that began in May 2019 with the formation of a City Council subcommittee to select an executive recruiter. On July 19, 2019, the City Council hired Ralph Anderson & Associates to conduct an executive search. The recruitment process included a community-wide survey inviting residents to share their priorities and the qualities they preferred in a city manager. Based on the survey results and council input, Ralph Anderson & Associates narrowed the initial field of 44 applicants down to six finalists who were interviewed in October by the City Council. On Oct. 26, 2019, the top two candidates spent a full day with multiple interview panels consisting of community members, business leaders, labor representatives and former City Council members. The panelists provided their input to the City Council who met again the next day to interview both candidates. Duggan was approved unanimously by the City Council in a regular open session on Nov. 5.