Pomona : City Administrator Hired

After months of searching for a new city administrator, the City Council voted unanimously this week to hire A. J. Wilson, who owns a consulting firm in Fallbrook.

Wilson, 46, who formerly served as city manager for Santa Ana, Portland, Me., and Kansas City, Mo., will begin working part time for Pomona on Monday but will not officially become city administrator until April 1.

At Monday night’s council meeting, Mayor Donna Smith cited Wilson’s achievements, such as a reorganization of municipal government in Kansas City which reduced that city’s budget by $6 million, a $20-million downtown renewal project in Santa Ana and a job placement service for youth in Portland that helped cut unemployment there almost in half. Smith also praised Wilson for his efforts in improving older residential neighborhoods and encouraging the hiring of women and minorities in city government.

“We got the best that there is,” Smith said. “He was a rising star in the nation. . . . He almost seems too good to be true.” Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant concurred: “I have great expectations. I believe the man’s a professional.”

Marshall Julian, who has been Pomona’s interim city administrator since Ora Lampman retired Oct. 30, will remain at that position through the end of March.