Glendale Picks West Covina Official for City Manager

The City Council unanimously appointed Jim Starbird--who has been serving as West Covina’s city manager--as Glendale’s new city manager on Tuesday.

“Everyone we spoke with praised his leadership, financial management skills and more,” Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian said.

Starbird, West Covina’s city manger since 1991, applied for the $159,000 Glendale postion left vacant in September when David H. Ramsay was hired for the city manager’s post in Kirkland, Wash.

With his move to Glendale, Starbird will be managing a city with nearly four times the employees and double the population of West Covina. He will assume the new job on March 2.

Starbird, who will be Glendale’s 15th city manager, earned a bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State College in 1971 and served as assistant to the city manager in Eureka. He moved to Monrovia, where he served 24 years as assistant city manager before becoming city manager.

In 1991 he was hired by West Covina, where he helped revitalize the civic center area and bring new office and business developments to the city. During his tenure he also worked with city and business leaders to close a local landfill to chemical dumping.

“He’s one of the premier city managers in Southern California,” said John Fields, executive director of the West Covina Chamber of Commerce. “We’re sorry to see him go. But West Covina’s loss in Glendale’s gain.”