New Milpitas City Manager Wants To Boost Morale

San Jose Spotlight

October 6, 2023

Milpitas has a new city manager—the fourth in the past six years.

The Milpitas City Council removed the word “acting” from Ned Thomas’ city manager title at Tuesday’s meeting and approved his permanent appointment through June 30, 2025, with an option to renew annually. His annual base salary is $279,000, according to his contract.

Thomas previously served as the city’s planning director, a job he held for more than five years.

At the meeting, Vice Mayor Evelyn Chua said 51 people applied for the role, and the council whittled the options down to six finalists before selecting Thomas.

Thomas said his goals for the city manager’s office are to be open, accessible and transparent. He also wants to boost morale and improve “inefficiencies” in organization of the city.

“I want to be respectful and responsive to the direction given to us by the council, and to continue to make Milpitas the best community it can be,” Thomas told San José Spotlight.

Prior to joining Milpitas, Thomas worked as a planner in a handful of other cities, most recently in San Jose’s planning department. He holds a master’s degree in urban planning from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

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