Lake Elsinore Gets New Interim City Manager

In a 5-0 vote Tuesday night, the Lake Elsinore City Council approved Western Municipal Water District board member Tom Evans as interim city manager effective April 30. He replaces Pat Kilroy, who was appointed to the post

Kilroy has maintained no desire to take over the helm at the city, and Tuesday he said he was relieved to be returning to his regular duties as director of Parks and Recreation for the city. Several city council members thanked him for his willingness to serve during the interim period. Kilroy will remain in the post until Evans takes over next week.

For his part, Evans will receive $11,000 a month for his interim service to the city, but will not receive benefits. His contract is month to month.

Evans has management experience. Since January 2007, he has served on the Western Municipal Water District board representing Division 2, which includes a portion of the City of Riverside and all of March Air Reserve Base. He also represents Western on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board, where he serves as chairman of the Engineering and Operations Committee.

According to his bio from Western, “Mr. Evans has 35 years of experience in water, electric and gas utility management.  In 2005, he retired from the City of Riverside as interim city manager.  He also served the City of Riverside for four years as director of Public Utilities. Mr. Evans has served as a director for both the Southern California Public Power Agency and the Northern California Power Agency. He has served as a board member of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and past chair of the Leadership Steering Committee. Mr. Evans is a member of the Riverside East Rotary Club as well as a past board member with Smart Riverside. He’s currently serving as a volunteer counselor for SCORE, an organization designed to provide counsel to small business owners.”

Evans graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and he holds a master’s degree in Business and Information Systems Management from Golden Gate University.

During Tuesday’s meeting, council members also voted 5-0 to approve bringing on the recruiting firm of Roseville, CA-based Bob Murray & Associates to find a permanent city manager for Lake Elsinore. Payment to the firm will be $17,500 plus an estimated $6,800 in travel expenses. It’s estimated that the process of finding a qualified candidate will take approximately 16 weeks.