City Manager takes job in Yucaipa

City of Canyon Lake City Manager Chris Mann is leaving his post to become the city manager of the City of Yucaipa. The San Bernardino County city has a population of 53,921 and represents a significant career move for Chris.

After successfully guiding the City of Canyon Lake through a pandemic that resulted in fewer cases and deaths than almost all other county cities and then leading the effort to create a successful city fire department, Chris became a hot commodity for larger cities to recruit.

The City of Yucaipa appointed Chris to serve as its next city manager at its City Council Meeting Monday. Chris tendered his resignation to the Canyon Lake City Council the following morning. Chris will leave the city at the end of next month with his new job starting March 1.

The Yucaipa position not only is a promotion, but it enables Chris to work where he resides with his wife Annie and two-year-old son Liam.

“Leaving Canyon Lake is going to be difficult,” Chris said. “It has been such a wonderful experience all around. I just couldn’t turn down this opportunity.”

Chris Mann, City of Canyon Lake City Manager

Chris has served as Canyon Lake’s city manager since March 2019. The Canyon Lake City Council will look to move quickly to find and hire a new city manager, according to a press release issued Tuesday. Mayor Jeremy Smith and Councilmember Kasey Castillo will serve on a search committee to identify candidates for the job and will lead the application and hiring processes.

Chris is widely credited with turning around the finances of Canyon Lake over his four years as the city’s city manager, the city said in its press release. He professionalized city staffing and operations, implemented popular quality-of-life programs that have increased general fund revenue by 31 percent without raising taxes, launched aggressive economic development initiatives, and took the city’s budget from an $800,000 deficit to a surplus of more than $400,000 during his tenure.

Chris implemented the creation of the Canyon Lake Fire Department when the city council decided to provide those services locally. The Canyon Lake Fire Department went into service Jan. 1, 2022, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in its first year, providing faster response times than what the city experienced under its previous contract with the County of Riverside, and quickly becoming a source of pride for the community.

“I truly believe Chris Mann is simply the best manager the city has had in its 32-year history,” Jeremy said. “Our entire council will be sad to see him go, but this opportunity just makes sense for Chris and for the City of Yucaipa. The Yucaipa Council, staff, business community and residents are going to love working with Chris.”

Likewise, Chris said he has thoroughly enjoyed working for the city.

“Serving as your city manager over the past four years has been nothing less than the highlight of my professional career,” Chris said in his resignation letter. “I will be forever grateful for the faith you put in me and for giving me the chance to prove myself in this profession. While the decision to accept another opportunity was not an easy one for me, I depart with a sense of pride over all that we have accomplished together, and with confidence that the City of Canyon Lake is on solid financial ground, heading in the right direction, and will continue to be in the capable hands of the talented team of staff we have assembled and the phenomenal leadership of this city council.”

Chris mentioned in his comments to the council the list of significant accomplishments the city made during his time as the city manager.

“Your wise leadership and willingness to do bold (and sometimes difficult) things, enabled us as a cohesive team to establish innovative programs that have improved quality of life in Canyon Lake,” Chris said. “We were able to correct a staggering structural budget deficit, to professionalize operations at city hall, to grow the city’s staff (and thus the level of services we provide to the community) from just four full-time employees to 23 full-time and three part-time employees, to establish the Canyon Lake Fire Department, to bring the Building Department in-house, to greatly expand community services and events, and to accomplish far too many other things to mention here.”

Joining Chris at the City of Yucaipa will be Canyon Lake City Attorney Steven Graham of the law firm Cole Huber LLP. He also was employed Monday evening by the city council there as its city attorney. Steven will continue to serve as city attorney in Canyon Lake where has served since May 2019.

It is not unusual for an attorney to serve as city attorneys for multiple cities at the same time. Steven also serves as city attorney for the Cities of Indio and Hemet and as General Counsel for the Yucaipa Valley Water District and the Idyllwild Fire Protection District.

When the city last searched for a new city manager at the beginning of 2019, the process took about two months. Should there be a gap of time between Chris’ departure and the new city manager starting, Administrative Services Director Mike Borja will act as city manager, as he did for the two months prior to Chris starting in 2019.