Newport Beach’s manager is retiring a year earlier than laid out in her contract that was originally supposed to end in December 2026.
Now, Newport Beach City Manager Grace Leung will retire at the end of 2025, but when she leaves the city, she’ll be taking a large severance package with her — equal to a full year’s pay.
And if the council approves the employment agreement with the new city manager tonight, they’ll effectively be signed up to pay for two city managers at once in 2026.
Resident Jim Mosher criticized the move at the July 8 meeting, when council members approved the shortened retirement timeline for Leung.
“This agreement now is having her to be paid even though she will not be the city manager next year. The city manager is the highest paid employee in Newport Beach,” Mosher said.
Mosher questioned the need to pay two city manager salaries next year.
“What we don’t need is to be paying two city managers at the same time. This agreement is changing our current good agreement that we have to what seems to be a bad agreement where for the full length of next year we’ll be paying two city managers — one who’s actually working and one who’s retired. I don’t know why we’re doing that.”
Leung was appointed as city manager in 2018. Her most recent contract was approved by the council in 2022 and outlined an employment term from Jan. 25, 2022 through Dec. 30, 2026.
However, according to a staff report from the July 8 City Council meeting, the council and Leung met twice earlier this year to conduct an annual performance evaluation, which resulted in a new employment contract that ends in December 2025 — a year early.
“On February 25 and April 15, 2025, the City Council held meetings with the city manager to conduct her annual performance evaluation,” reads the staff report. “During these discussions, the Council and Ms. Leung engaged in thoughtful dialogue about her future retirement plans and their shared commitment to a smooth leadership transition.”
The new employment agreement outlines her final six months as city manager from July 8 through Dec. 26. It includes the same base salary and nearly identical benefits to her previous employment agreement.
The only differences are the shortened timeline and a new severance package provision that will pay Leung a year’s worth of salary and benefits upon completion of the contract’s term.
Her base salary is $345,782. The severance package would also include an auto allowance and phone allowance plus an extra $24,000.
That means when Leung retires in December, the city will be paying her an extra year’s salary as she leaves.
The council approved the new employment agreement in a unanimous vote with no discussion during the city council meeting on July 8.
After that vote, Mayor Joe Stapleton made a few comments saying goodbye to Leung, who was not present at the meeting.
“We are truly fortunate to have her serve as our city manager for the past seven years here in Newport Beach,” he said at the meeting.
“While her retirement is well deserved, we are grateful that she agreed to continue serving through December 26 of this year to support a smooth transition. Grace is not here tonight, but if she was, I would tell her her leadership and contributions have left a lasting impact on our community.”
Councilmember Robyn Grant also thanked Leung for her work at city hall.
“It’s wonderful to know that we have such a great succession plan in place and that Grace’s leadership has been instrumental in that succession plan,” she said at the July 8 meeting. “To see this all come together in a very fluid manner and agreeable manner is a testament to Grace’s leadership all these years.”
Immediately after bidding Leung farewell, Stapleton announced the city had already decided to move forward with the process for appointing Assistant City Manager Seimone Jurjis to be the next city manager effective Dec. 27, 2025. He also announced that the council would consider the appointment at the July 22 meeting.
That item is on the agenda for tonight’s meeting and outlines Jurjis’s employment agreement.
The term would begin Dec. 27, 2025 and last through Dec. 30, 2030 with a base salary of $363,071.
Jurjis’s contract includes a severance agreement that would only go into effect if the employment is terminated early.
Newport Beach resident Kathe Morgan questioned if the city opened up any applications for the position and criticized how the transition to Jurjis occurred so quickly.
She also referenced Newport Beach’s city charter that says the city council “shall screen all qualified applicants” when selecting a city manager.
“Our mayor and council — they haven’t invited any sort of community conversation regarding this at all,” Morgan said in a phone interview. “They’re just pushing through everything extremely quickly.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
