Milpitas city manager Julie Edmonds-Mares resigns

MILPITAS — Milpitas, with its recent history of turmoil in the city manager’s chair, will change its top administrator for the second time in less than two years, as Julie Edmonds-Mares announced Wednesday she is stepping down from her position.

The City Council will appoint Steve McHarris, the current deputy city manager, as interim city manager at their June 4 meeting, according to a late afternoon statement the city issued Wednesday.

“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished working together in the City of Milpitas, and I know that I’m leaving Milpitas as a better organization,” Edmond-Mares said in a statement.

Edmonds-Mares was hired in January 2018 to permanently replace Tom Williams, the embattled former city manager who had been put on paid leave in May 2017 and resigned in September of that year after illegally using city funds, being accused of intimidating employees, and lying to an investigator probing his actions.

Steve Pangelinan, the former police chief, served as interim city manager since May 2017 until he retired in January. The city council then appointed Dianne Thompson — a former city manager who was fired from her position in Arroyo Grande — to fill the role until Edmonds-Mares came on board in February.

Edmonds-Mares was heralded as a steady hand that would benefit the city with her decades of public service experience, most recently as director of the San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood.

“We truly appreciate and recognize the significant contributions of Julie Edmonds-Mares during her service to Milpitas,” said Mayor Richard Tran.

Edmonds-Mares declined to be interviewed for this story through a city spokesperson.

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