Mr. Milnes has served as city manager in three California cities for 24 years. He recently retired as city manager of Stockton after serving for over 9 years, and he also served as city manager for more than 6 years each in Yuba City and Merced. During his public service career, Mr. Milnes has also worked in Burbank and Santa Cruz, California. He was appointed to the California City Planning Commission and as Treasurer of the California City Community Health Clinic foundation. Mr. Milnes holds doctorate and masters degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California, and has taught graduate level courses as a part-time instructor in public administration for USC and Golden Gate University. He received his undergraduate education from Occidental College with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Mr. Milnes specializes in public finance issues, organizational management audits, organizational system design/personnel allocation, analysis of methods of service delivery and the cost/advisability of programs.

email Dwane

Mr. Gary leads Citygate’s Fire Services practice. Chief Gary has 39 years of experience in the fire service, including 5 years as a paramedic. In 1994 he was appointed Chief of the Livermore Fire Department, in Alameda County, California, and in 1996, he successfully designed and led the implementation of the Livermore-Pleasanton fire department consolidation, which subsequently won a California League of Cities Helen Putnam award. The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department today is one of the few successful city-to-city fire mergers in California. Chief Gary recently retired as Chief of the combined department.

For the past 14 years, he also has been a lead instructor and program content developer for the Standards of Coverage process. For many years he annually taught a 40-hour course on this systems approach for fire deployment at the California Fire Academy and he consults across the United States and Canada on the Standards of Response Coverage process. (read more)

email Stu

Mr. Corey has served as assistant city manager and city manager in California cities for over 28 years. He recently assembled and led the team of experts that developed the City of Richmond (CA) Financial Recovery Plan. The Plan, which embraces his “Simple Principles of Wealth Accumulation for Municipal Government,” set the course for the City to eliminate its massive operating deficit and cash flow problem even though the City is considered to be the most complex and difficult mid-size city (pop. 100,000) to manage in the State of California. As cited in The Bond Buyer in January, 2005: “Moody’s Investors Service restored Richmond, Calif.’s issuer credit rating to investment grade this week, citing a financial turnaround for the San Francisco Bay area city a year after it discovered a $35 million budget deficit.”

Mr. Corey holds a Master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from the University of Southern California. He received his undergraduate education from the University of California, Davis, with a Bachelor’s degree in political science. Mr. Corey specializes in public finance issues, community development in high-growth environments, and related performance audits. He began his association with Citygate in 1999, taking leave in 2002 to be of service to the City of Richmond as Assistant City Manager, Acting Finance Director and Interim City Manager.

email Jay

Ms. Comarell has over 30 years experience in general government, organizational development, long-range and current planning and historic preservation.  Ms. Comarell served nine years as the Executive Director for the Ogden City, UT, City Council.  Ms. Comarell was recently under contract with Salt Lake City, UT for implementation support in the Planning Department. Previously, she served as the Ogden Assistant Community Development Director, as the President of the Utah Chapter of the American Planning Association, and on numerous national APA, AICP committees.  She also has taught as an adjunct professor of urban planning at the University of Utah and served as a member of the Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (RUDAT), a program sponsored by AIA.  Ms. Comarell also has extensive experience with decision makers and community groups that involved facilitating and consensus building, which she gained while serving as a planner in various community development roles.

email Pat

Richard Carson, MPA
Senior Associate

Mr. Carson has over thirty years experience as a manager in city, county, regional and state government. Mr. Carson's last position was director of Clark County's Community Development Department where he managed 160 staff, with a $17 million budget and was responsible for reviewing and inspecting almost $600 million a year in new construction. His staff included planning, engineering, building, the fire marshal, code enforcement, and animal control. Mr. Carson was also the director of planning for the Portland metropolitan area's regional planning agency (METRO) which covered 1.2 million people, 24 cities and three counties. This included land use, open space and solid waste management planning. Mr. Carson holds a Master of Public Administration from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, and is currently a doctorate student at Washington State University. Mr. Carson is a noted writer and speaker, and has published over 100 essays in major publications like Public Management, Planning, Urban Land, Architecture, and Business America. Mr. Carson was recently featured in the Public Broadcasting System documentary "Making Sense of Place."

email Richard

Bruce McClendon, FAICP
Senior Associate

Mr. McClendon recently retired as the Director of Planning for Los Angeles County, California.  Previously, Bruce has served the following Florida counties at the Director level: Orange and Hillsborough Counties.  Additionally, he has served as the Director of Planning for the following cities in Texas: Galveston, Beaumont, Arlington, and Forth Worth.  Bruce has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Regional and City Planning (Emphasis on Economic Development) from the University of Oklahoma.  Bruce has served two terms as the National President of the American Planning Association and is a charter member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.  Bruce is an accomplished author with over one hundred articles currently in print in over fifty different publications. 

email Bruce

Steven Harman, MPA, IPMA-CP
Senior Associate

Mr. Steven Harman recently retired after a thirty-two year career in human resource management and joined Citygate Associates. He is an experienced and acknowledged leader in the public sector human resource management community.  He has more than thirty years of personnel management experience covering the full array of management functions including recruitment and selection, classification and compensation, training and development, policy and procedure development and other related areas.  For the past 20 years, he has served in human resources management leadership positions for several cities on the west and east coasts.  Mr. Harman has a Master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in personnel management and labor relations.  He holds the highest level of professional certification issued by the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR).

email Steven

Anna Olea-Moger, CMC
Associate

Mrs. Moger has over 20 years experience as an Office Manager in city government. Mrs. Moger’s last position was City Clerk of Rancho Cordova in Sacramento County where she played a key role in establishing the Clerk’s office services and systems to support the Council’s legislative deliberations and public records information access and archiving, the department’s staffing and performance standards, and the overall department’s internal and external customer service delivery for a newly incorporated city intent on becoming a premiere service city. Prior to Rancho Cordova, Mrs. Moger served as the Director of Administration for the California Redevelopment Association under a management services contract with Citygate Associates where she also set up the administrative support service functions and established performance standards. Beginning as a student intern, Mrs. Moger worked as an Executive Secretary for the City of Salinas serving in Public Works, Recreation & Parks, the City Manager’s office, and the City Clerk’s office. Mrs. Moger has an undergraduate degree from Hartnell College, is a Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, a graduate of the League of California Cities Continuing Education for Public Officials (CEPO) Program and a graduate of the University of California Riverside’s Technical Track for City Clerks (TTC) Program.

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Blanca Gordo, Ph.D.
Associate

Ms. Gordo is an Associate with Citygate Associates. She specializes in regional-local economic development, local technology development processes, public policy and organizational analysis and development. She has taught related courses in the departments of City and Regional Planning and Ethnic Studies and is currently Academic Coordinator at the Center for Latino Policy Research at the University of California at Berkeley, where she instituted and directs the Technology, Development and Policy Research Team. Dr. Gordo holds a doctorate in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her master’s degree at UCLA, with an MA in Urban Planning.

email Blanca

Mr. Carr manages Citygate’s Leadership Training and Team Development program and has performed numerous leadership training engagements for municipal, state, and private agencies. Mr. Carr recently retired as the Vice President of the Western Region for Sears Holding, Kmart Division. Mr. Carr earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Monfort School of Business, University of Northern Colorado, while specializing in accounting and management. Mr. Carr has over 35 years experience in retail management and has served in various leadership roles before ending his retail career as the Vice President of the Western Region, Sears Holding.

email Rick

James R. Davis
Senior Associate, Law Enforcement

Chief Davis has more than thirty-four years of public safety experience. Having served in every capacity in the El Cajon Police Department, Mr. Davis retired in 2004. Mr. Davis led an organization of more 312 people with an annual budget of more than 24 million dollars. He went on to consult on regional, state, national and international issues and has led two successful Bond Measure campaigns. He accepted an appointment from the California Governor as the Chairman of the Board of Parole Hearings. He served the administration in that capacity until 2008. Mr. Davis has his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management. Among his many educational accomplishments, Mr. Davis is proud to be a graduate of the California Command College, Senior Management Institute for Police (Police Executive Research Forum and Kennedy School of Government) and the FBI National Academy. His professional associations include the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, California Police Chiefs Association and the California Police Officers Association. Mr. Davis is active in his community and was honored as the 2005 Citizen of the Year.

email Jim

Michael Ross, MA
Senior Associate

Mr. Ross has over thirty-five years of public management experience and served with the Contra Costa County Animal Services Department as its Administrative Officer and Director for over twenty years. He is a specialist in all aspects of animal control services including program management, staff development, budgeting, labor relations, personnel administration, supervision, and training. Mr. Ross served as President of the California Animal Control Directors Association. He also served as Chairman of the Association’s Legislative Committee. Mr. Ross earned his B.A. and M.A. at Sacramento State University and holds a Community College Teaching Certificate in Government and Business Administration.

email Michael

Steven Foster, MS
Senior Associate

Chief Steven Foster is a 30-year veteran of the Fire Service, and served as a Chief Officer for 23 of those years. For the past twenty years, Chief Foster has served at the Elk Grove Fire Department as Assistant Fire Marshal/Battalion Chief, Chief Officer, and finally Fire Chief in 2006. During his time as Fire Chief, he organized the merger of the Galt Fire Protection District and the Elk Grove Fire Department, to become the Consumnes Fire Department, which now provides fire protection and emergency medical services to 157 square miles of Sacramento County. Chief Foster has six years of fire protection consulting experience serving cities, counties, independent fire protections districts, and real estate developers in California. Mr. Foster holds a Masters Degree in Fire Department Administration from Western States University, a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Fresno State University, and an Associates Degree from Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA. He has completed the Executive Development Program at Sacramento State University and has completed thousands of hours of post baccalaureate training in Management, Leadership, and Fire Service coursework. Mr. Foster is a California State Certified Fire Investigator II, Fire Prevention Officer, Fire Officer, and Chief Fire Officer.. 

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Peter Bryan, MS
Senior Associate

Mr. Bryan has over thirty-five years of public fire protection and consulting experience. He has served as Fire Chief for the Cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Monrovia and Norco, California. He has earned Bachelor of Science and Masters Degrees in Fire Protection Administration. Mr. Bryan is a Certified Fire Chief and Certified Chief Officer by the California State Fire Marshal’s office. Mr. Bryan specializes in code consulting, development of wildlife interface/intermix fire protection plans, technical plan reviews and station, apparatus, and personnel implementation scheduling.

email Peter

From left to right: Chad Jackson (Project Administrator); Terri Crawford (Administrative Assistant); Lois Standley (Financial Services Manager).

email Chad | email Terri | email Lois

In addition to the specific associates described above, Citygate also has an extensive network of independent consultants, industry representatives, public officials, and specialists in a variety of fields who are available to assist as subcontractors in Citygate projects including: