City Names Woman to Top Position

The San Fernando City Council on Monday appointed Mary L. Strenn, former assistant city manager of Bakersfield, the municipality’s first female city administrator.

“We are all rightfully impressed by her,” Mayor Jess Margarito said in an interview Monday. “She is very, very good in the area of economic development, an emerging priority here. I think she is going to make a good fit in San Fernando.”

Strenn, 45, who was approved unanimously by the council, replaces Don Penman, who resigned in January to become the city manager of Baldwin Park.

She was chosen from among more than 80 candidates, Margarito said, and was the city’s first choice after a lengthy interview process.

Strenn holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin and served as assistant city manager of Peoria, Ill., from 1977 to 1985 and Bakersfield from 1985 to July, 1989.

Shortly after applying for the San Fernando job through an executive search committee, she went to the city, bought some maps and went about making a quiet assessment, she said. She liked what she found: a 2.4-square-mile city with police making frequent patrols, townspeople who spoke highly of the City Council and a community with strong family ties, she said.

“I liked the Hispanic flavor to it, and the fact that I was talking with people who had lived there for three generations,” she said. “A lot of communities are trying to establish an identity, but San Fernando has a clear identity and is trying to keep it.”

Strenn said one of her top priorities will be addressing housing issues in San Fernando. Many aging neighborhoods need revitalizing, she said, and rising housing prices are pushing young families out of the community. “It’s a pity to not be able to have the next generation afford to live there, through no fault of their own,” she said.

Strenn planned to meet with city staff members at a meeting today. She officially begins work July 16.