Laguna Beach set to appoint Dave Kiff as new city manager

A seven-month search to find a new top executive to lead Laguna Beach appears to have reached its conclusion.

The City Council will vote on an employment contract for Dave Kiff to serve as the Laguna Beach city manager at Tuesday night’s meeting, according to the agenda.

Kiff has experience working at the state, county and local levels of government. He spent 20 years with the city of Newport Beach, nine of those years as its city manager.

More recently, he served as the director of the homelessness services division for Sonoma County.

When reached for comment about the agenda item on Friday, Mayor Sue Kempf said the hire was not a “done deal” until the City Council approves the contract. She noted Kiff’s experience as a city manager and history as a past resident of Laguna Beach as part of the appeal of his candidacy.

“He’s an experienced city manager in Newport, which is a city that’s about three times bigger than we are,” Kempf said. “... He already knows the town inside and out, and that will be a great help to all of us, as we won’t have a long time for him to get familiar with the job.”

Kiff holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from CSU Sacramento. He earned a master’s degree in government administration from the Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Under the terms of the contract, Kiff would receive a starting salary of $315,000. The contract under consideration would also provide a $1,000 monthly stipend to go toward housing, a vehicle allowance of $500 per month, and a cellphone stipend of $80 per month.

Kiff would take over a position only recently vacated by Sean Joyce, who had been serving as interim city manager as a retired annuitant. Gavin Curran has been serving as acting city manager in his stead.

Laguna Beach had been conducting a search to fill the position on a permanent basis since a separation agreement was reached with its former city manager, Shohreh Dupuis, in late August.