Newport Beach residents are questioning why the city signed up to pay for two city manager salaries in 2026 after the current top city employee decided to retire a year early.
Newport Beach City Manager Grace Leung previously had an employment contract that lasted until the end of 2026, but at a meeting earlier this month, the city council unanimously approved a new agreement that shortens her employment by a year.
She’s now expected to retire at the end of 2025, but when she leaves the city, she’ll also be taking a large severance package equal to an additional full year’s pay.
[Read: Newport Beach City Manager to Retire a Year Early With Large Severance]
According to Leung’s new contract, she is entitled to the severance package as long as she completes the full term of her employment and meets the agreement’s conditions.
The severance package includes her annual base salary of $345,782, benefits like an auto allowance and phone allowance plus an extra $24,000.
During the council’s Tuesday meeting, councilmembers approved a different employment agreement to promote Assistant City Manager Seimone Jurjis to become city manager when Leung retires at the end of the year.
Jurjis’s contract, which was approved by the council in a 6-0 vote, includes a base salary of $363,071. The term would begin Dec. 27, 2025 and last through Dec. 30, 2030.
Councilmember Michelle Barto was absent from the vote.
Resident Jim Mosher questioned how the city was able to identify the replacement so quickly since Newport Beach’s city charter says the city council “shall screen all qualified applicants” when selecting a city manager.
“I object to the process, especially because there is no urgency about this matter. You have five months before you need to appoint a city manager,” Mosher said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“To screen applicants, there has to be an application process. The public is not aware that there was any application process … I don’t know how you can have applicants without inviting applications.”
In a Tuesday email sent to Voice of OC ahead of the council meeting, Mayor Joe Stapleton didn’t offer many details about what the selection process looked like.
That’s because he said the selection was a confidential process.
“In considering the appointment of a new City Manager, the Charter requires the City Council to screen people who are eligible for appointment,” Stapleton wrote in response to questions asking if there was an application process. “While I can confirm that a process took place and that the process was conducted in accordance with the Charter, it would be inappropriate to discuss details of a confidential recruitment, including the number or identities of applicants.”
He also said the city is not paying two city managers’ salaries at once.
“The employment agreement with Ms. Leung is a comprehensive package and should be viewed as a whole, rather than focusing on any single provision. Ms. Leung has committed to serving the City through December 2025 to help ensure a smooth and effective transition to a new City Manager,” Stapleton wrote.
“Her compensation, as outlined in her existing agreement, reflects her continued service during this period and is wholly separate from the proposed employment agreement for the incoming City Manager.”
Some residents remain unconvinced.
“During 2026, the taxpayers are going to be paying almost $1 million to have two city managers,” resident Adam Leverenz said during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting. “It seems like there’s enough things of concern and there’s enough time that this could be looked at further.”
Councilmember Noah Blom said it’s important for the council to make sure the right people are in charge of the city.
“I understand that a lot of people out there want it to be more difficult,” Blom said at the meeting.
“They want us to go out there and really pound the pavement to find the right person, but from my perspective, for my own businesses, I promote from within because they have an institutional knowledge of what we do,” he said.
“When this transition can be done with a couple of high fives and everyone’s happy — great. That is what Newport is about.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
