SOUTH GATE : City Manager Takes Post in Hawthorne

Todd W. Argow, South Gate’s city manager for four years, announced last week that he is resigning to become city manager of Hawthorne.

Argow will assume his new post on Nov. 28. He said he will continue to conduct South Gate’s business matters “right up until midnight” of his last day on the job.

“I like to think I’m leaving South Gate in good shape,” Argow said. “During my time here, the climate for businesses has greatly improved and the city has become a safer place to live.”

Argow, 42, said his two greatest accomplishments were developing an emergency preparedness program that helped keep the city virtually untouched during the 1992 riots and the high ranking that South Gate recently received from Cognetics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., economic research firm, as an attractive environment for entrepreneurs.

“During the riots, the fires burned to our borders on three out of four sides. We remained safe and our businesses remained safe,” Argow said. “When businesses look for places to go, they notice things like that.”

Argow also noted that the city’s financial shape has improved. When he arrived in South Gate, the city was running a deficit of $200,000. The city now has a $4-million reserve fund.

Argow said he made the decision to leave because Hawthorne offered him a higher salary and new responsibilities. Hawthorne’s outgoing city manager, Jim Mitsch, earned $120,000. Argow would not disclose his salary or how much more he will be earning at his new job.

Before arriving in South Gate, Argow worked for six years as the public services director for Saratoga in Santa Clara County, as assistant to the city manager, intergovernmental relations administrator and grants administrator for Oceanside for seven years, and as an administrative analyst for San Diego.

He earned a master’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University in 1978 after earning his bachelor’s degree in public administration from California Baptist College, Riverside in 1976.

South Gate’s City Council has not yet begun interviewing candidates to serve as interim or permanent city manager. Argow said he will submit a list of individuals to fill the post.