Alameda City Council Appoints An Interim City Manager

ALAMEDA, CA -- The Alameda City Council approved an agreement appointing Dirk Brazil as the City’s Interim City Manager. Mr. Brazil will oversee city operations while the City Council searches for a new permanent City Manager.

According to Alameda officials, Brazil has over 35 years of experience working in State and local government, most recently as City Manager for Davis and Assistant County Administrator for Yolo County. Prior to these positions, Brazil held jobs in the State legislature, the Office of Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis, and for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Since his retirement in 2017, Brazil has acted as Interim City Manager for South Lake Tahoe and as Interim Executive Director for the Yolo Habitat Conservancy.

“I’m excited to step in as Alameda’s Interim City Manager. The City Council and City staff have a large and interesting mix of projects in motion and my job is to keep everything moving forward until a new, permanent City Manager is appointed by the Council," Brazil said in a statement. "I look forward to digging into the work and getting to know the community."

Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft said in a statement that Brazil "has the background and experience to be an effective leader for Alameda."

Brazil, who's married to an elementary school teacher and librarian, has two adult children and one granddaughter. He's a graduate of UC Davis and Claremont Graduate School, a former Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, and lifelong San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors fan.

He begins his new role on May 23 and his contract specifies that his term would be for no more than 960 hours in a Fiscal Year. In accordance with CalPERS rules, he will be paid at the same salary as the previous city manager, $133.85 per hour.

The city manager position became vacant after then-City Manager Eric Levitt took a similar position with the City of Fullerton in March after three years with Alameda.

In April, Councilmembers voted not to use an outside search firm to fill the permanent city manager position. Instead, the Council chose to have the search conducted by the city’s Human Resources department.