VENTURA : Brekke to Be City Manager of Del Mar

Ventura Assistant City Manager Lauraine Brekke has resigned to take a job as city manager of Del Mar, a small coastal community north of San Diego.

Brekke’s last day will be Dec. 18. She takes over her new duties in Del Mar on Jan. 4. Del Mar city officials said Brekke had beat out more than 150 applicants for the position. “We liked her style and her experience,” Del Mar Councilwoman Jan McMillan said.

Brekke will replace Gloria Curry, who is retiring. Brekke, 45, has been Ventura’s assistant city manager for more than six years. It has not yet been decided whether her position will be filled because Ventura officials are in the middle of reorganizing, Brekke said.

“I’m going to miss the people here,” she said. Since she first came, she said she has been “so favorably impressed with the quality of the staff and the ability to get things done.” Many of the issues that she faced in Ventura will also be concerns in Del Mar, Brekke said.

Del Mar, with a population of about 5,000, is similar to Ventura in that it is also a coastal community with an emphasis on tourism, Brekke said. Like Ventura, Del Mar has fairgrounds and an agricultural district within the city limits.

Brekke now earns $92,000 annually, and Del Mar is offering her $86,000, she said. “Money isn’t everything,” she said. “I think it’s going to be real fun. Every city has its own challenges.”