Official may move

As Huntington Beach’s top government manager for more than three years is looking at new job opportunities, City Council members gave her high marks for her performance. But most saw the choice to stay or go as in her hands, not theirs.

City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft is one of three finalists to be city manager in Colorado Springs.

The city administrator said she hadn’t been actively looking for the job, but stumbled across the opportunity on a trip this year and applied the very last day allowed. Her openness to a move involved personal family matters as much as a feeling she’d accomplished what she can in Huntington Beach, she said.

“I tend to be attracted to communities that want and desire change,” said Culbreth-Graft, who holds a doctorate in public administration from the University of La Verne. “I’m trained in that. That’s what my doctoral degree is for. I’ve been here three and a half years, and I’ve really been able to do the things and accomplish the things I wanted to.”

Those accomplishments include a number of public works and building modernization projects, shepherding through the annexation of the Brightwater housing development into the city, and streamlining the progress of big new developments like the Bella Terra shopping center, Culbreth-Graft said.

Council members praised Culbreth-Graft, but some were more fatalistic about her moving on than others.

Councilman Keith Bohr said Culbreth-Graft was temperamentally a “change agent” who had fixed much of what she came to fix, and he understood why she might want to move on.

“She’s done what I think was hoped for,” Bohr said. “Financially we’re in a much better situation, both in actual dollars and in the way the budget system’s reviewed. I feel the ship’s been righted, so to speak.”

Councilwoman Debbie Cook said that while Culbreth-Graft had done a fine job, she didn’t have any worries about finding another qualified city administrator. Having helped pick managerial positions before, she said the process wasn’t that daunting.

“I’m familiar with it, and I think we’re up to the challenge,” she said.

“She’s done a great job and I hope for the city of Huntington Beach that she chooses to stay,” Councilwoman Jill Hardy said. “If she has better opportunities, I wish the best for her. I just hope she decides that the best opportunity is Huntington Beach.”

Colorado Springs is expected to make its decision within the next week or two, and the new city manager would start Jan. 1.