Staff

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR TEAM OF MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL CONSULTANTS BELOW!

Select your service line of interest to see our team!

David DeRoos, MPA, CMC

President

Mr. DeRoos has nearly 30 years of state and local government consulting experience, including eight years with a Big Six firm. He also has five years of experience as a manager in the public sector. He served as the deputy director of the California Redevelopment Agency from 1991 to 1997. In addition to managing the firm and ensuring that Citygate’s quality control standards are met on all engagements, Mr. DeRoos leads Citygate’s General Management Consulting practice and specializes in performance audits. He has a bachelor of arts degree in political science (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of California, Davis, and a master of public administration degree from the University of Southern California. He is a certified management consultant and has taught graduate-level courses for numerous universities.

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Stewart Gary, MPA

Principal, Public Safety (Law Enforcement; Fire and Emergency Services)

Mr. Gary leads Citygate’s public safety practice areas of Law Enforcement, and Fire and Emergency Services. He has led all of Citygate’s Standards of Coverage studies, and he and has been working on public safety studies of all types for over a decade. Chief Gary is the retired Fire Chief of the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department in Alameda County, California. Over the last 14 years, he has performed over 200 organizational, staffing, and deployment studies and has worked with a variety of communities on staffing, master plan, and deployment studies. He has worked with The Omega Group, Citygate’s public safety data specialist, for over a decade and understands how to draw staffing and deployment conclusions from data.

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James Davis, MS

Principal, Police Services

Jim Davis Chief Davis has more than 44 years of public safety experience. During his 30 years of service at the El Cajon Police Department (an organization of more than 300 people) he led responses to natural and manmade disasters, including, but not limited to, military and civilian aircraft crashes into urban environments, hazardous chemical spills, floods, and wildfires threatening urban environments, including the 2004 Cedar Fire. In 2019, Chief Davis graduated from the University of San Diego with a master’s degree in Law Enforcement Public Safety Leadership. He has completed additional graduate work in organizational development and adult education from the University of Virginia and San Diego State University. He is currently adjunct faculty for the University of San Diego’s master’s degree in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership. Chief Davis is a graduate of the California Command College, the Senior Management Institute for Police from the Police Executive Research Forum / Kennedy School of Government, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy. Chief Davis has served as the Chairman and Executive Officer of the California Board of Parole Hearings, Director of the Southwestern College Police Academy, Advisor to the Director, California Department of Motor Vehicles and California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. He has consulted on regional, state, national, and international issues related to public safety.

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Jay Corey, MPA

Principal, Community Development

Mr. Corey has served as assistant city manager and city manager in California cities for over 28 years. He assembled and led the team of experts that developed the City of Richmond Financial Recovery Plan. The Plan, which embraced 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 was 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, California’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 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 temporary leave in 2002 to be of service to the City of Richmond as assistant city manager, acting finance director, and interim city manager.

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William Sager, CFO

Senior Associate

Mr. Sager is a fire services specialist with more than 40 years in the fire service. In addition to his management and planning consulting work, he also serves as the training program manager for Citygate’s Emergency Management and Operations Training. A retired Naval Officer, he graduated from the University of California with a bachelor of science degree in forestry, with a minor in landscape architecture. Mr. Sager’s last assignment with CAL FIRE was as the Butte Unit Chief and the Butte County Fire Chief. He is the recipient of the 1991 Executive Fire Officer Outstanding Research Award. Mr. Sager has done course development work for the Executive Fire Officer curriculum and taught at the National Fire Academy, National Interagency Fire Center, the U.S. Coast Guard, and community colleges in California. He regularly lectures and teaches fire management at community colleges and conferences throughout California. He was the editorial consultant for Vision 2020, the Office of State Fire Marshal’s new statewide training plan for the California Fire Service. He has authored articles in Fire Engineering, Fire Chief, and Wildfire magazines.

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John B. Hester, MCRP, AICP

Senior Associate

John Hester Mr. Hester has over 30 years of experience in community development functions within local government, many as an executive. Mr. Hester is currently the chief operating officer for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). He has a strong track record of process improvement and delivering customer-centric outcomes. At the TRPA, he removed an application review backlog of 150 applications, updated the 25-year-old Lake Tahoe Regional Plan (which won American Planning Association awards), and is currently completing a project where the strategic plan, annual work program, budget, and organizational unit and individual performance plans are all being linked, including providing quarterly performance reports to the board. Prior to joining the TRPA, Mr. Hester was a community development director and redevelopment agency administrator for the City of Reno, Nevada. He later served as assistant city manager. During his tenure at Reno, he significantly streamlined processes in the Planning, Code Enforcement, and Building Divisions. He revamped the City of Reno’s systems to allow the City to process 50 planning cases per month, 10,000 building permits per year, and 4,000 code enforcement cases per year. It was during his tenure at Reno when he was introduced to Citygate during its management audit.

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Jane Chambers, MPA

Senior Associate

Jane-Chambers Ms. Chamber’s 25 years in local government includes executive leadership as a city manager, assistant city manager, human resources director, and public works director in the full-service urban and suburban communities of Burbank, Daly City, and San Bruno, California, and Burnsville and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, as well as the rural communities of Chico and Ukiah, California. She served as the city manager in the City of Ukiah, California, for seven years, retiring in June 2015, and then served as interim assistant city manager for the City of Sunnyvale, California, during its search process for a permanent assistant city manager. Throughout her career, Ms. Chambers successfully implemented strategic realignment of service delivery systems, including financial resources, to achieve improved and sustainable programs for citizens. These efforts include addressing substantial budget deficits for various water, wastewater, recreation, public safety, streets, and general government projects and services, as well as for unique enterprise services, such as historic event and conference centers. Ms. Chambers has expertise assisting elected officials, city staff, and community stakeholders in identifying and achieving desired goals in complex financial and operational environments, as well as operational and service delivery experience in budgeting, public safety police and fire, economic and community development, housing, human resources, parks and recreation, public works, water, sewer, and solid waste. Ms. Chambers is an International City/County Management Association Retired Credentialed Manager, having earned and maintained this recognition annually for more than a decade. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an undergraduate degree in political science from California State University, Northridge. In addition to her work in local government, Ms. Chambers coordinated a multi-agency, county-sponsored homeless services project and served as an administrator in a statewide public health project and school of pharmacy.

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Evert Palmer, MPA, ICMA-CM

Senior Associate

Mr. Palmer served the City of Folsom, California, for 23 years as Assistant Finance Director / Information Technology, Director of Administrative Services, Assistant City Manager, and City Manager, retiring in 2018 after seven years as the City’s chief executive. Mr. Palmer served Folsom during a time of significant growth, contributing to and completing two annexations that increased the City’s size by more than 3,500 acres and 11,000 housing units. Using alternative service delivery, contracting, efficiency measures, and public/private partnerships, Mr. Palmer successfully led Folsom, a full-service city, through the Great Recession, guiding the City Council and the community through a strategic restructuring of City operations that not only retained the City’s high-quality services and infrastructure but also improved balance sheets in the general, internal service, retiree health, solid waste, waste water, and water funds. During this same period, Mr. Palmer aided several community organizations through their own restructuring, increasing their self-reliance and reducing their requirements for public funding. Mr. Palmer’s work in economic development in collaboration with the Folsom Chamber of Commerce led to the location and expansion of several high-technology employers to Folsom, for which he was awarded the Folsom Chamber of Commerce’s Chairman’s Award in 2014. Mr. Palmer is an International City/County Management Association Retired Credentialed Manager, having earned and held this designation since 2011. Mr. Palmer earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University, a bachelor of arts in organizational leadership degree from Chapman University, and a certificate of achievement in municipal leadership from the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development. Before his service to the citizens of Folsom, Mr. Palmer served as an information technology professional in both the public and private sector, and he worked on a number of large-scale IT implementations in the banking, corporate, general government, and public safety sectors.

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Connie Jackson

Senior Associate

Ms. Jackson has over 32 years of local government management experience. She served as City Manager for the City of San Bruno in the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years and the City of Fort Bragg in the coastal Mendocino County for four years. She also served for more than a decade in the Office of the City Manager in the City of Hercules, which was at the time one of the fastest growing communities in the state of California, and she served as Assistant City Manager, Parks and Recreation Director, and manager for the City’s Budget, Redevelopment, and Economic Development functions. Ms. Jackson has extensive experience developing and implementing successful fiscal, organizational, and operational strategies to resolve serious financial deficit situations, including the sharing of core municipal services with other local agencies, restructuring of service delivery systems, and development of public engagement strategies and programs. Ms. Jackson is a member of the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA). She was recognized by the League of California Cities City Manager’s Department as the 2012 City Manager of Distinction. She has presented before a wide variety of audiences on the City of San Bruno experience and pipeline safety. Ms. Jackson holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley in social and cultural anthropology and completed coursework for a Master of Business Administration degree, also at UC Berkeley.

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James Evans, Ph.D

Senior Associate

Mr. Evans served in city management in five California cities for over 30 years, and he served as city manager and executive director of Redevelopment for 15 of those years. Since retirement, he has served as the part-time executive director of the Southern California Institute for Local Government (SCILOG) and as a management consultant and workshop provider with SCILOG, as well as an independent consultant. He has also taught business and public administration as a part-time instructor at California State University, Long Beach; California State University, Fullerton; and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Mr. Evans holds a PhD in executive management from the Claremont Graduate University, where he also earned an executive master’s degree in business administration and a master of arts degree in executive management. He also holds a master of arts degree in political science (public administration) from San Jose State University. His bachelor of science degree is in industrial technology from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. He has also completed postgraduate work in information science at Claremont Graduate University and is completing a certificate program in web design and administration from the University of California, Irvine. Mr. Evans is certified as a peer assessor for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.

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Samuel Mazza, EFO

Senior Fire Services Specialist

Chief Mazza is a senior fire and emergency services specialist with over 40 years of fire service experience. He recently retired as Fire Chief from the City of Monterey, California, where he oversaw a successful consolidation of fire services with the City of Pacific Grove. Prior to his service with Monterey, Chief Mazza spent over 30 years with CAL FIRE in numerous assignments spanning state, county, and fire and special district services. He has extensive collaborative and command experience, including appointment as the incident commander of a statewide Type-1 Incident Command Team. Chief Mazza is an executive fire officer and National Fire Academy instructor.

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Robert Meyer, CFO, EFO

Senior Associate

Robert Meyer Chief Meyer has over 20 years of public fire protection experience. He recently retired as Fire Chief for the City of SeaTac, Washington, where he was responsible for leading a Fire Department of 53 employees serving a diverse community with a daily population of 96,000 out of three fully staffed fire stations providing fire, emergency medical, and technical rescue services. Prior to joining the SeaTac Fire Department in 2000, he served as the Division Chief for the Santa Maria Fire Department; Senior Code Enforcement Officer for the City of West Hollywood, California; and Battalion Chief for the San Clemente Fire Department. Chief Meyer is a certified emergency manager, certified Chief Fire Officer, and peer assessor / team leader for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.

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Michael Dyer, MPA

Fire Services Specialist

Fire Chief Dyer began his public safety career over 36 years ago, during which he has undertaken various assignments that afforded him the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in many different disciplines, either as a direct participant, supervisor, or manager. He has served as an ocean lifeguard specialist, Firefighter, Firefighter Paramedic, Firefighter Specialist, Fire Captain, Battalion Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, and Chief Deputy in the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and he recently retired as Fire Chief of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. Chief Dyer previously held the #2 ranking position in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Northridge. Chief Dyer recently completed the Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School. In addition to his formal education, he is also certified as a hazardous materials specialist and Paramedic, and he achieved the certification of Fire Chief from the California State Fire Marshal. Chief Dyer recently served on several statewide committees. He served on the California Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, as the chair of the CAL FIRE Contract Counties, and as the chair of the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors.

Julee Conway, MBA, CPRP

Parks and Recreation Specialist

Ms. Conway has over 25 years of municipal and county government experience in Oregon and Nevada. Her career focus has been the professional management of service-oriented municipal and county parks, recreation, and community service departments. Drawing on her prior career experience in commercial banking and her post-graduate business degree, she has applied knowledge of how to successfully utilize sound fiscal management practices in the government setting. These practical skills proved invaluable during the 2008–2011 recession as she, serving as director, resourcefully guided the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department for the City of Reno, which resulted in a more sustainable service model. In addition, her nationwide involvement and awareness of fitness and wellness trends in the parks and recreation industry led to the City of Reno receiving regional and national recognition for its programs, services, and creative funding initiatives. Having worked for the Cities of Corvallis and Gresham in Oregon and Washoe County and the City of Reno in Nevada, she has extensive exposure and insight related to all facets of community engagement and consensus building associated with creating, developing, managing, and promoting a sustainable and nimble parks, recreation, and community services agency.

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Gary Elliott, MS

Law Enforcement Services Specialist

Undersheriff Gary Elliott has 30 years of law enforcement experience. Having served at every level of the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, his retirement is planned for February of 2019. As the Undersheriff, he managed the day-to-day operations of the organization, which included over 560 full-time employees and a budget in excess of $110 million. His experience with the Sheriff’s Office includes 18 years on the SWAT Team as a tactical operator, team leader, and commander. Undersheriff Elliott also has extensive leadership experience as a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve. He retired at the rank of full Colonel in September of 2018 after 36 years of service.

Robert "Bob" Stresak

Robert “Bob” Stresak

Senior Associate

Bob Stresak Mr. Stresak has 46 years of accomplished law enforcement operations management. He retired as the executive director of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) in 2016. Serving four years in that position, he provided oversight and enforcement of existing state regulation of selection and training standards for over 100 legislatively established categories of peace officers, as well as general oversight of over 600 California law enforcement agencies and departments. He held many other positions with POST in his 17 years there, including assistant executive director, bureau chief, and basic course coordinator. He previously served the Los Angeles Police Department for 27 years in various assignments, including administrative coordinator of the Detective Support Division’s Apprehension Section, where he was responsible for the development, planning, budgeting, funding, and acquisition of the Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking system, which is designed to become the common denominational database among multiple jurisdictions to facilitate the identification, gang affiliation, and migration of the approximate 1,300 identified gang factions within the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Stresak has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Thomas Woodward

Senior Associate

Thomas Woodward has 25 years of law enforcement experience serving in a variety of positions with the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The unique nature of the Arizona DPS role in law enforcement throughout the state gave him valuable experience in working closely with agencies of all sizes and jurisdictions, including large and small municipalities, remote and urban counties, tribal agencies, and a variety of federal agencies. Mr. Woodward has patrol experience in both remote and urban areas at ranks ranging from officer to commander. His investigative experience includes liquor violations, fraud, narcotics, organized crime, intelligence, terrorism, internal investigations, and public corruption. His incident command experience includes officer-involved shootings, large-scale incidents on the Phoenix metropolitan freeway, demonstrations at the state capitol, and presidential escorts. While assigned to the Inspections Unit, he conducted detailed comprehensive audits of agencies throughout the state. He was also the project manager for the first state-level/statewide photo enforcement program in the nation. Other areas of his experience include human resources, media relations, and legislative testimony. After retiring from Arizona DPS as Commander of Highway Patrol operations on the Phoenix metropolitan freeway system in 2010, he accepted a position as Training Director for the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. As a training director, he ran a dynamic training program, with classes attended by both sworn and civilian law enforcement personnel from throughout the country. These classes were recognized by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, Northern Arizona University, and Wayland Baptist University. Mr. Woodward has a bachelor’s degree in business management and is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy and the Police Traffic Management course at the Institute of Police Management and Training.

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Matt Morgan

Senior Associate

Captain Morgan was hired by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department in March of 1989, where he served the community for more than 27 years before retiring from the Department at the rank of Captain. During his tenure, he held assignments at all ranks in the areas of corrections, patrol, investigations, and administration. His final assignment was as Captain of the North Area Station. He oversaw a budget of $43 million and the work product of more than 175 sworn officers and support staff. Serving as the Captain of Professional Standards, he was responsible for the retooling of Internal Affairs, bringing global perspective to the division. By uniting Recruiting, Pre-Employment, Academy, In-Service Training, Internal Affairs, Legal Affairs, and Risk Management under his command, the Department vastly improved its ability to identify, hire, train, and retain the most qualified personnel. During his career, Captain Morgan was on the boards of numerous groups related to civic and law enforcement, the most rewarding of which was serving as the first president and founder of the Rancho Cordova Police Activities League. Captain Morgan has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and is a graduate of the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College.

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Dallas “Denny” Neville Jr.

Public Safety Communications Specialist

Mr. Neville is a 44-year veteran of the fire services and public safety communication professions. He served as director for two multi-agency Fire/EMS dispatch centers. He is a retired Deputy Fire Chief for the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District of San Diego County. In Rancho Santa Fe, Mr. Neville accumulated 18 years of chief officer experience and served as an Interim Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, Operations Deputy Chief, and Battalion Chief. Mr. Neville has led many cooperative groups within the County of San Diego, all in the name of collaboration within the service. He is a founding member of the International Fire Code Institute and has participated in many statewide and nationwide groups, including the National Fire Protection Association, Associated Public-Safety Communications Officials, and the International CAD Consortium. He has also served on the California State Citizen Corps Council and was a state advocate for the national Fire Corps program. He has served on two state Type I Incident Management Teams and has undertaken more than 50 assignments under the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s Incident Command System.

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Dwane Milnes, DPA

Principal Emeritus, General Government

dwane_milnes Mr. Milnes has served as city manager in three California cities for 24 years. He retired as city manager of Stockton after serving for over nine years, and he also served as city manager for more than six years each in Yuba City and Merced. During his public service career, Mr. Milnes 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 master’s degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California, and he 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.

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Eric Lind, MA

Senior Associate, Statistics and Operations

Eric Lind Mr. Lind’s 18 years of experience spans several industries, including two years in municipal government as a performance improvement analyst. His municipal government experience has largely focused on public safety performance improvement projects, including a fire facilities location study, alternative fire service delivery modeling, and an administrative performance assessment of civilian police staff. He has used performance improvement and business transformation techniques throughout his career across the globe. Mr. Lind is skilled with developing and conducting statistical research to answer operations questions, and he is equally comfortable with survey research. He has two published survey research papers, including one he developed for Rotary International. Mr. Lind is a Lean Six Sigma Certified Black Belt and has a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in international business, all from different countries.

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Andrew Green, MBA

Senior Associate, Fiscal Specialist

Andy Green Mr. Green has over 35 years of experience in all aspects of municipal finance, including as a professional manager. He has had primary responsibility for the development and monitoring of citywide budgets for four municipalities ranging from $70 million to $680 million. He developed and fine-tuned long-range financial plans for multiple municipalities, including playing a lead role in taking the City of Pasadena from a $10 million General Fund operating deficit to a $5 million General Fund operating surplus. Mr. Green also has a master of business administration degree with honors.

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Nicholas Pinhey, DPA

Senior Associate

Nick Pinhey Dr. Pinhey has over 33 years’ experience in the management of municipal utility and public works departments and has served as a director of Public Works or assistant Public Works director for the majority of his career. He recently served as interim general manager for the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority. Dr. Pinhey has managed full-service public works departments in cities serving populations ranging in size from 45,000 to 215,000. He has experience in water and wastewater utility operation and management, including direct experience in all aspects of public works maintenance activities, and he has directed engineering functions and major capital projects. He is certified by the State of California as a wastewater treatment plant operator Grade 4, surface water treatment plant operator Grade 3, and a water distribution system operator Grade 3. He is also certified as a wastewater collection systems maintenance technician Grade 3 and an environmental compliance inspector Grade 1 by the California Water Environment Association. Dr. Pinhey is also a frequent speaker at water/wastewater conferences and professional training events. He has extensive experience in the training of professional and technical competencies in public utilities. He is also an adjunct teacher in the Graduate Public Administration Program at California State University, Stanislaus.

Keith Clarke, CBO

Senior Associate

keith-clarke Mr. Clarke has over 30 years of experience in building department administration. He retired in 2009 as the Building Department director for the City of Corona, California, after serving that City for over 27 years. Since his retirement, Mr. Clarke has been the building official for the Cities of Norco, Costa Mesa, and Eastvale in California. He is currently working as the community improvement director for the City of Costa Mesa, where he supervises the Code Enforcement staff. Mr. Clarke is a certified building official and was an instructor for California Building Officials (CALBO) for 10 years, where he also served on the Board of Directors from 2005 to 2009. He is currently a code instructor for the Orange Empire Chapter of the International Code Council. He earned an associate degree in engineering from Cypress College and studied civil engineering for one and a half years at University of California, Los Angeles, and one and a half years at California State University, Long Beach. Mr. Clarke received CALBO’s Building Official of the Year Award in 2004 and the Hall of Fame Award in 2009, and his department received the CALBO Building Department of the Year Award in 2003.

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Kevin Tobeck, MBA

Senior Associate

kevin-tobeck Mr. Tobeck has served for over 31 years in public works and related functions. He has served as a Public Works director and deputy director of Maintenance and Operations for the City of Tracy, which maintained a peak of 151 employees and a $51 million annual operating budget. The Department consisted of 31 operational programs. Mr. Tobeck has direct, hands-on experience with all facets of public works management and leadership, including critical fiscal, maintenance and operations, utilities, and solid waste functions.

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Eric R. Carlson

Senior Associate

Eric Carlson Mr. Carlson is a veteran Fire Marshal and retired from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department. He was the Fire Marshal under Chief Gary for 11 years and was instrumental in the Livermore Permit Center development and operation, as well as the design of new prevention systems in the two Cities after the fire departments consolidated. In addition to his deep experience, he is current on all the latest code certifications. Mr. Carlson and Chief Gary worked together for years on technical code development processes, checklists, and internal bureau processes and, as such, are accustomed to jointly problem solving from an integrated fire code and customer service perspective.

Michael Ross, MA

Senior Associate, Animal Services Specialist

Mike Ross Mr. Ross has over 45 years of public management experience, serving for more than 20 of those years with the Contra Costa County Animal Services Department as its administrative officer and director. He is a specialist in all aspects of animal services and regulation, 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, what is now the California Animal Welfare Association. He also served as chairman of the Association’s legislative committee. Mr. Ross earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at California State University, Sacramento, and holds a community college teaching certificate in government and business administration. Mr. Ross has directed the technical analysis on every animal services project Citygate has performed.

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Evelyn DeRoos, MA

Personal Leadership Effectiveness Coach

Ms. DeRoos is a personal leadership effectiveness coach with Citygate Associates. She supports the process of personal growth and development by assisting with uncovering, understanding, and overcoming blocks to desired change. She teaches workshops on personality, temperament, and relationships. With a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from University of California, Davis, focusing on interpersonal communication, and a master’s degree in clinical psychology, Ms. DeRoos is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She has worked with individual clients from large private sector corporations, as well as staff from state and local government offices. In addition to her clinical work, she has been mentoring and coaching for 25 years. Ms. DeRoos is a lifelong learner and especially enjoys the integration of current research in neurobiology with the understanding of human behavior.

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Richard Carson, MPA

Senior Associate, Organizational Development

Mr. Carson has 30 years of experience working at the county, city, regional, and state level of government in the Pacific Northwest. He has served as senior policy analyst for three Oregon governors on economic and environmental policy. He was also planning director for METRO, the Portland metropolitan area regional authority covering three counties and 24 cities and encompassing a population of 1.5 million. His most recent experience was as the director of Clark County’s Community Development Department, where he managed 165 staff and a $17 million budget. Mr. Carson held this position for almost 10 years. Mr. Carson joined Citygate Associates in 2007 and has subsequently worked on organizational development assessments in Sacramento, San Diego, and Solano Counties in California; the City of Ogden, Utah; and the Cities of West Linn and Cascade Locks in Oregon. Mr. Carson is currently a doctoral candidate at Washington State University, specializing in public sector organizational development.

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Patricia Comarell, MA, AICP

Senior Associate

Ms. Comarell has over 30 years of experience in general government, organizational development, long-range and current planning, and historic preservation. She served nine years as the executive director for the City Council in Ogden City, Utah. Ms. Comarell was recently under contract with Salt Lake City, Utah, 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 American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners 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, a program sponsored by the American Institute of Architects. 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.

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Susan Feingold

Senior Associate

As the Executive Director of Fulton County Animal Services, under management of Southern Hope Humane Society, Susan Feingold oversaw animal services for the City of Atlanta, unincorporated Fulton County, and 13 other cities, serving a total population of more than one million over 534 square miles. She also served as the Shelter Director of DeKalb County Animal Services under LifeLine Animal Project management, also located in the Metro Atlanta area. In addition, after completing a full operational analysis of Douglas County Animal Control as a consultant, she was asked by the county to serve as its Interim Director to help implement some of the most urgent recommendations. Ms. Feingold served as the National Sales Manager for PetData, a pet licensing company, and co-founded Stopping Pet Overpopulation Together, a 501(c)(3) spay/neuter and education nonprofit. She also served for five years on the Cobb County Dangerous Dog Hearing Board and the Cobb County Animal Advisory Board and was the co-author of a complete rewrite of the Cobb County Animal Ordinances. Ms. Feingold has expertise in all aspects of animal services, including operations management; standard operating procedures; shelter software systems, including Chameleon; large-scale field operations; dangerous and vicious animals; animal ordinances; veterinary care; disease prevention; spay/neuter; public/private animal control partnerships; and methods for increasing adoptions/decreasing euthanasia.

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Bill Cook

Senior Associate

Bill Cook has 29 years of experience in local government. He retired in 2017 after serving as Executive Director for the Ogden City Council for 15 years. Before that, Mr. Cook worked for Snohomish County, Washington, for 14 years. For seven years his responsibilities included facilitating numerous cross-functional teams, which included all County departments. As Executive Director for the Ogden City Council, Mr. Cook facilitated the analysis of a streetcar system in collaboration with the Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Transit Authority, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Weber Area Council of Governments, Weber State University, and McKay-Dee Regional Hospital. He was a member of the core legislative team with the Utah League of Cities and Towns and the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce legislative committee. In 2003, he was certified by the International Association of Facilitators as a professional facilitator. He has facilitated more than 1,000 meetings, workshops, and retreats. He is the author of five books, including Facilitating Your Own Meetings: Essential Skills for Managers and Supervisors.

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Mario Beas, MPA, IPMA–CP

Senior Associate

Mr. Beas has 34 years of municipal human resources experience, including 28 years of human resource management experience. Prior to his retirement in 2013, he served for 17 years as the Executive Director for the City of Long Beach Civil Service Department. He also worked in two other leadership positions for the City of Long Beach: Recruitment Officer and Deputy Director. In addition, he worked as the Director of Personnel for the City of Monterey Park, California. Mr. Beas has extensive experience in recruitment, employee selection processes, program development, and training. Throughout his career, Mr. Beas has developed and implemented innovative ideas to enhance diversity in selection processes, streamline operations to improve efficiency, and train staff at all levels in human resources topics. After retirement, Mr. Beas worked as interim Director of Human Resources for the City of Compton and the City of Commerce. Throughout his career and while retired he served as a consultant to multiple public agencies and organizations. While working, Mr. Beas served as President on the Board of Directors of the Western Region International Public Management Association-Human Resources (WRIPMA-HR). He was also a board member and President of the South California Public Management Association-Human Resources (SCPMA-HR), of which he was honored with a Lifetime Membership. He holds an IPMA-CP, a professional certification offered to successful public sector human resource professionals. Mr. Beas earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from UC Davis and a Master of Public Administration degree from CSU Long Beach.

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Michael Samuels

Senior Associate

With over 32 years in the fire service, Chief Samuels’ experience is varied and vast. He has an extensive background in both line and management functions. During the course of his career, he has served at nearly every rank in the Fire Department in Corona, California: Firefighter, Engineer, Captain, Battalion Chief, and Deputy Chief. As a line officer, he has responded to many incidents where he operated at both a tactical and strategic level. As a staff officer, he has served as the Emergency Medical Services Chief and Deputy Fire Chief. His staff experience includes management of the budget process, discipline and labor relations, and oversight of the Training and EMS Divisions, facilities, communications, and fleet.

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Michael Scott, MPA

Senior Associate

Michael Scott became the first full-time Fire Chief for the City of Eagan, Minnesota, in March 2006. Chief Scott started his firefighting career as a paid-on-call firefighter with the Eagan Fire Department in 1983. He served as Fire Lieutenant for three years, Station Commander for seven years, and Captain for three years. Prior to being selected as Eagan’s Fire Chief, he was a Police Officer for 19 years, including serving as Agent-In-Charge of the Dakota County Drug Task Force for seven years, Commander of the Detention Center and as Captain of Emergency Services. Chief Scott obtained his master’s degree in Public Administration from Metropolitan State University; he also holds an associate and a bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement. He is a certified Emergency Manager in the State of Minnesota and a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

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William Carlson

Senior Associate

Mr. Carlson has 28 years of local government experience in northern and southern California. Until June 2002, he served as the executive director of the California Redevelopment Association and the CEO of Citygate Associates, LLC. Mr. Carlson served as Dave DeRoos’ mentor starting from the time Dave was an undergraduate and continuing over the next 30 years through their partnership together in business.

Karl Schwarm, MA

Senior Associate

Mr. Schwarm has over 20 years of experience in multiple aspects of municipal government. He spent five years working for the City of Vista, California, and 15 years with the City of San Marcos, California, where he served as Director of Housing and Neighbor Services. Prior to starting his career in local government, Mr. Schwarm served 11 years on active duty with the United States Marine Corps. He retired from the Marine Reserves in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, with a total of 22 years of service. Mr. Schwarm has vast leadership experience in tactical, operational, and strategic operations both at the federal and local level. Mr. Schwarm’s areas of expertise in local government include housing, parking, code compliance, crime prevention, neighborhood revitalization, redevelopment, volunteer programs, contract services, and several federal and state grant programs, including Community Development Block Grant, HOME, and CalHome. While serving as the Director of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City of San Marcos, he had leadership responsibility for day-to-day management and operations of the division, including project management, budgeting, scheduling, capital improvements, contract services, coordination with developers, and customer service. Mr. Schwarm retired from the City of San Marcos in 2016 and joined Citygate as an associate in November 2018. He holds a master’s degree in human resource management from National University. He received his undergraduate education from California State University, Northridge, with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Stephen Crane, BA

Senior Associate

Captain Stephen Crane has 25 years of law enforcement experience. Having served for the Seattle Police Department, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, and the Fairfield Police Department, his retirement is planned for April 2019. He has served at the rank of officer, Detective, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. As a Captain with the Fairfield Police Department, he managed the day-to-day operations of the organization, which included 190 full-time employees and an approximate $38 million budget. He has led and held responsibilities in Patrol Operations, the Emergency Services Unit, the Mobile Field Force team, the Investigations Bureau, the Traffic Unit, the Homeless Intervention Team, the Honor Guard, the Crisis Intervention Team, Peer Support, Code Enforcement, Crime Prevention, School Resource Officers, the Police Activities League, Volunteers In Policing, Administrative Services, Fleet Maintenance, Personnel and Recruitment, Records, Property and Evidence, Dispatch, Facilities, Budget and Grants, a regional training facility, and the Emergency Operations Center. Mr. Crane has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Sonoma State University and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Safety Leadership and Administration degree at Arizona State University.

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Keith Breskin, MBA

Senior Associate

Keith Breskin is a Senior Associate with Citygate Associates. He has more than 20 years of senior executive experience in various cities. Prior to his public sector service, he worked as a consultant to local governments throughout California on economic development, real estate, and redevelopment matters. Mr. Breskin has a total of 14 years of service as the City Manager in various contract and full-service cities throughout California. He also served for six years as the Economic Development Director for the City of Monterey Park, California, and managed the program to finance the reconstruction of housing that was damaged and destroyed in the City of Santa Monica after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. His public sector work has also included direct oversight of the Planning Department, Personnel Department, City Clerk’s office, and Recreation. Further, Mr. Breskin has extensive experience guiding municipalities through periods of expansive fiscal challenges. He has a strong aptitude in the areas of fiscal management, negotiations, program and project management, interdepartmental coordination, strategic planning, and achieving goals. He also served for over 10 years as a Board Member and President of MERCI, a non-profit organization that provides for the needs of the developmentally disabled. Mr. Breskin holds a master’s degree in business administration from California State University, Los Angeles, and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from University of California, Los Angeles.

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George Esbensen

Senior Associate

Chief Esbensen began his career as a volunteer firefighter with the Eden Prairie Fire Department in 1986. He has held the positions of firefighter, Squad Lieutenant, and Assistant Chief of Operations, being named the City’s first full-time Fire Chief/Director of Emergency Preparedness in September 2002, a position he retired from in 2018. Chief Esbensen holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, as well as associate degrees in fire science and emergency management. Before his retirement from the fire service, Chief Esbensen served as Incident Commander on the Minnesota Type III All Hazard Incident Management Team and led deployments to Hurricanes Sandy and Irma, as well as numerous regional and local flood and tornado disasters. He is also a certified Emergency Manager in the State of Minnesota. Chief Esbensen has held numerous local, state, and regional leadership roles in the fire service. In addition to his work with Citygate, Chief Esbensen is also president of a non-profit organization, Minnesota Firefighter Initiative, which advocates for firefighter well-being around the topics of cardiac health, emotional trauma, and cancer. In addition to his fire service experience, Chief Esbensen has had a successful career in the private sector as an entrepreneur involved in successful initial public offerings and expanding the sales and profitability of other organizations.

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Chad Jackson, MBA

Consultant Team Member

Chad Jackson, MBA Mr. Jackson manages Citygate’s Marketing and Reporting Department. He is one of Citygate’s leadership consultants and is a certified MERIT consultant. Mr. Jackson has been providing leadership training and consulting for nearly 10 years and frequently advises clients with important recruitment decisions based on application of the MERIT Profile to specific organizational cultures. Mr. Jackson earned his master’s degree in business administration from University of California, Davis, with a focus on organizational management and leadership. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in communication studies from California State University, Sacramento.