Assistant City Manager Named

Longtime city employee Julie Hernandez has been promoted to a newly created position that firmly establishes her as second in command at City Hall.

Hernandez, 43, was named assistant city manager last month by the City Council.

She had been assistant to the city manager the past four years but was given a new job classification because she had outgrown her previous position, officials say.

Her annual salary of $51,142 did not change, but her job responsibilities are now formalized, including the fact she will now serve as the city’s top administrator when City Manager Peter Cosentini is away.

Before coming to Santa Paula, Hernandez worked 10 years for the city of Oxnard.

“It is one [more] step in my career path to being a city manager,” Hernandez said of the job promotion.

Hernandez said her focus for the next six months will be on improving the efficiency of the city clerk’s office.

Hernandez is president of the International City/County Managers Assn. Hispanic Network, a national organization that supports Latino administrators. Cosentini said having Hernandez in that high-profile network position is a benefit to the city.