Council Seeks to Hire Duarte’s City Manager as Administrator

The City Council has offered Duarte City Manager Jesse H. Duff the city administrator position in West Covina.

Duff, 49, said he was offered the job by the city’s recruiter after a second interview with council members Monday.

The terms of Duff’s contract have yet to be negotiated and he must still undergo a background check before formally taking over the job in the city of about 101,000 residents. “I am very pleased to have been offered the position,” he said.

Duff, who has been Duarte city manager since 1986, earns $114,000 a year. In West Covina, he would succeed James Starbird, who earned $123,000 annually until his resignation in March to become city manager in Glendale.

In Duarte, a city of 22,000, he is credited in the last decade with increasing sales tax revenues by 300% by expanding the city auto mall and bringing Wal-Mart and Target stores to the city. He is also credited with leading efforts to build a city recreation facility, bring affordable housing to a rundown area along Huntington Drive and engineering the passage of a parcel tax for parks maintenance.