Chula Vista council hires Tiffany Allen as city manager

Chula Vista councilmembers unanimously decided to hire Tiffany Allen as the next city manager for the county’s second-largest city Tuesday night.

Allen is the current assistant city manager and will replace Maria Kachadoorian, who announced in May that she was retiring. The council approved a starting salary of $355,450 for Allen, who has worked for the city for more than two decades in a variety of positions.

The selection did not come as a surprise. In June the council, after several meetings in closed session to discuss replacing Kachadoorian, had tapped Allen and voted to initiate contract negotiations for the top job. The council elected not to conduct an outside search for Kachadoorian’s successor.

The council was not moved by the statements that Michele Clock Schrotenboer, the city’s former communications manager, made about Allen during a workplace investigation in March.

Schrotenboer left the city in January and on her way out blamed a toxic work environment for her departure after about 18 months of work. She said Allen was one of the architects of the dysfunctional workplace, bullying and undermining subordinates. 

Five other former workers interviewed by inewsource backed up her claims of a toxic work environment and that Allen was part of a “mean girls environment” that favored some city workers and punished others.

Before the council vote, two speakers endorsed Allen’s selection. Council members also praised Allen and made no direct reference to Schrotenboer’s comments.

Councilmember Jose Preciado obliquely referred to the criticisms of Allen. “I’ve read articles in the last few days that don’t shake, but really disappoint me, because people are feeding information that in my view just creates rumors that are not founded on facts,” he said. 

He said the council worked over the past few months to “think about what was in the best interests of the city as we prepare to move forward.”

Councilmember Cesar Fernandez addressed the fact that the city did not conduct an outside search for a new manager. He said that he spoke to Allen in December and at that time told her he was leaning in favor of a search.

He said, however, that often those searches are “less than transparent” in that they contact many outside candidates, yet end up selecting someone from “your backyard” or within the organization. And that can lead to accusations that the process was rigged from the beginning, he said.

Fernandez said that as he got to know Allen he was impressed. “Twenty-four years of experience — I’m not going to spend anybody’s time or waste taxpayer money on a search when I know the best person is right here,” he said. 

Allen begins her new role on Oct. 3.