Assistant City Manager
408-535-8100
Email

Lee has a significant range of government experience and holds strong partnerships in the community and within the City of San José organization. In his current role as Assistant City Manager and Chief Operating Officer, he works with the City Manager through the coordination and engagement of departments to carry out City Council policy direction and ensure service delivery goals. In his current portfolio he oversees all public safety departments as well strategic support functions.

Lee has also been a Deputy City Manager with portfolios consisting of environmental and utility services, as well as, transportation and aviation city service areas, which include the Community Energy, Environmental Services, Airport, and Transportation departments. In addition, he simultaneously served as Co-Director of the City’s Emergency Operations Center during the City’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Lee has previously held the position of the City Manager’s Chief of Staff and Director of the City Manager’s Office of Administration, Policy, and Intergovernmental Relations. Before these positions, Lee spent time as the Budget Director for the Mayor’s Office, as an Assistant to the City Manager, and as a Senior Executive Analyst in the City Manager’s Office of Economic Development working on downtown issues. He began his City Hall career as the Chief of Staff for the Office of former Councilmember Nancy Pyle. Lee also spent time in Sacramento serving as a Legislative Aide.

Born and raised in San José, Lee holds a Master of Public Administration in public policy and administration in local government from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Sonoma State University. He also holds a certificate in local government management and leadership from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.

Deputy City Manager
408-535-8191
Email

Kip’s purpose is to awaken talented people to the spark of their full potential and enable them to change themselves and the world.

His career journey has taken him from Timbuktu to Silicon Valley. Along the way Kip has advised farmers on the edge of the Sahara, co-created the national award-winning Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, managed complex real-estate deals, and led a network of top technology leaders.

Kip is currently Deputy City Manager for the City of San José guiding the execution of the City’s enterprise priorities of Emergency Management and Preparedness, and Smart Sustainable and Reliable City: 21st Century Infrastructure:

• EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND PREPAREDNESS: No issue is more important than the lives and safety of our residents. As the City shifts from an extended response to the COVD-19 pandemic to community and economic recovery, we must continue to prioritize the work of ensuring San José is well-prepared for earthquakes and other disasters, particularly for those who are most vulnerable. As a City, we will do more to be prepared for emergencies and commit to this priority with relentless attention and support.
  
  
• SMART, SUSTAINABLE AND RELIABLE CITY: 21ST CENTURY INFRASTRUCTURE: Competing in the global economy and addressing climate imperatives requires updating our energy, water, waste, transportation, and internet connectivity infrastructure, as well as translating traditional infrastructure such as roads and streetlights into 21st century infrastructure. From the launch of a Clean Energy program, long-term investments in the Regional Wastewater Facility and San José International Airport, and new strategies for Broadband and Digital Inclusion, as well as Automated/Electric Vehicles, we must focus on developing smart, sustainable, and reliable infrastructure to shape America’s next great city.

Kip has an appointment as the City Innovator with the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH) where he is collaborating on the development of an innovation framework for cities across the globe. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and International Affairs, and a Master’s in Urban Planning. He has studied seven languages and worked and traveled across the globe.

For fun Kip has competed in Triathlons (Swim, Bike Run) and the Modern Pentathlon (Swim, Fence, Run/Shoot) where his guiding mantra is to complete with a smile on his face.

Deputy City Manager
408-535-4884
Email

Angel Rios, Jr., is a leader with 25 years of professional experience working in both the public and non-profit sectors. He currently serves as the Deputy City Manager for the City of San José. Angel previously served as the Director of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services. Prior to joining the City of San José, Angel served as the Associate Director of the largest Latino based, non-profit in Santa Clara County.

Angel holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government. He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum.  Angel has served as one of the chief architects of the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force, an anti-violence effort that has received national acclaim for its effectiveness in redirecting youth away from gangs and keeping neighborhoods safe. He was an appointed member of the Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention Board (CalGRIP) and has assisted the White House and the Office of the Attorney General launch a “National Youth Violence Prevention Forum.”

Deputy City Manager
408-535-8100
Email

With a career in urban planning that spans 30 years, Rosalynn Hughey has a passion for city building, placemaking and civic engagement. She serves as Deputy City Manager for the City of San José, and provides leadership for the City’s broad range of planning and development services, including stewardship of the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan. Rosalynn also leads Citywide initiatives, such as Climate Smart San José, Diridon Station Area Implementation/BART Phase II, and Public Life Strategy. Prior to joining the City of San José, Rosalynn served as Deputy Director in the Washington, D.C. Office of Planning, where she led dozens of neighborhood and transit-oriented development plans and large-scale planning/redevelopment projects. Rosalynn is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley. She is a member of the American Planning Association, including the Big City Planning Directors’ Institute. Rosalynn is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving on the Executive Board of the San Francisco District Council and selected as a 2017 Fellow of the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use.

Deputy City Manager
408-535-8100
Email

Omar Passons is Deputy City Manager for the City of San José and will lead the Ending Homelessness and co-lead the Clean, Vibrant, and Inclusive Neighborhood and Public Life Enterprise Priorities, which includes the following portfolio: Housing Department (e.g., expansion of the emergency housing system, improving the coordination of safety net services, encampment services, outreach, and assistance, and the coordination of advocacy for additional federal and state grants), BeautifySJ Initiative (e.g., neighborhood beautification projects, reduction of trash and graffiti, and encampment clean ups), Vehicle Abatement Program, and Code Enforcement, among other assignments. All City leaders guide the City's One Team values in practice and ensure that teams produce positive community outcomes.

After evaluating neighborhood revitalization efforts, Passons began his public health career in 2000 as a Health Policy Analyst for the United States Department of Health and Human Services where he used data and performance metrics to analyze the success of government programs. In 2007, two years after being admitted to the California Bar and beginning a land use practice, he joined the State of California Department of Transportation as a Deputy Attorney where he focused on litigation and land use issues. From 2011 to 2017, he held several positions in private law firms focused on public entities and land use; he then joined the non-profit/foundation Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation as Vice President of Community Development and Policy. In 2018, he joined the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and held two Director positions with the most recent being the Director of the Office of Homeless Solutions in the Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities (HSEC). Most notably, he laid the foundation for the establishment of the HSEC – the first of its kind in San Diego County that seeks to align dozens of County departments, city governments, non-profit organizations, philanthropic entities, businesses, organized labor, and community residents with a focus on preventing and ending homelessness. The interdisciplinary teams examine land use, economic support, health care, housing, and other areas to consider the needs of the whole person in addressing homelessness.

Passons completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and his Master of Public Health at the University of Arizona. He received his Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia. Passons is an engaged community member and has served on several advisory committees and boards for organizations focused on workforce and economic development, youth, and homelessness, and was on the Board of his Town Council for ten years. He is on the Management Committee of the Urban Land Institute for the San Diego/Tijuana region and Chair of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sub-committee, a past president of the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, and former member of the California Association of Black Lawyers.

In 2020, Passons received the Chief Administrative Officer 2020 Leadership Award and the California State Association of Counties Innovation Award for his work in homelessness. Earlier this year, his team won the National Association of Counties achievement awards for Housing Our Youth and Veterans Community Care Coordination, two system change efforts that provided homes and wrap-around support for people experiencing homelessness. Passons grew up in San Diego, entering the foster care system as an infant. He had over 100 foster brothers and sisters growing up and looks forward to learning and getting to know the community in San Josè.

Deputy City Manager
408-535-8100
Email 

Jennifer Schembri serves as a Deputy City Manager for the City of San José.

Jennifer has been with San José for nearly 20 years, starting in 2004 as an Executive Analyst in the City Manager’s Office. After a series of promotions, she most recently held the duo position of Director of the City Manager’s Office of Employee Relations and Director of the Human Resources Department. As Director of Employee Relations, she assumed the role of Chief Labor Negotiator and led the City through a pension reform settlement, and many successful negotiations with all 12 of the City’s bargaining units. This included both the Police and Fire unions, providing her ample knowledge of departmental operational challenges. She also worked closely with department leadership over the years in negotiations and to resolve issues. As Director of Human Resources, she spearheaded efforts to reduce the City’s vacancy rate. Most recently, the team reduced the rate from 13.4% in July 2023 to a June 2024 expected rate of approximately 10% supporting the City Manager’s Foundational Strategic Support Area of Making San José a Great Place to Work. She also restored the Workforce Learning and Development Team, which provides varied training opportunities to support City employees in their professional development and creates meaningful relationships with community partners, students, and job seekers by hosting events about City careers. Jennifer has also taken on many special projects and most notably served as the Personnel Branch Director in the Emergency Operations Center during the COVID-19 pandemic. This role was responsible for personnel reassignment, safety, health and wellness.

Jennifer was recognized by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a Women of Influence in 2016. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga. She is a native of San José and currently lives in the City with her family.

Chief of Staff
408-535-8100
Email 

Dolan Beckel is the Chief of Staff for the City Manager, Jennifer Maguire. The Chief of Staff position is a critical, trusted, apolitical, and unbiased leadership role and the strategic right-hand person to the City Manager and Assistant City Manager. Dolan is responsible for collaborating with the Mayor and Council, the City Manager’s Leadership Team, the Administration’ Senior Staff, and the Community to identify, prioritize, oversee, and measure the performance of high priority strategies, policies, and projects.

The Chief of Staff works closely with all City Leadership and Senior Staff in many areas: being a senior strategic advisor; providing organizational leadership; leading the City Initiatives Roadmap, leading the Customer Service Vision and Standards transformation; and partnering with City Departments to update and modernize the City’s performance management capability.

Dolan is a sought-after innovation and technology leader who has advised dozens of companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises in a professional career spanning over 36 years. Dolan spent over 20 years at Accenture where he progressed to Associate Partner. Dolan was co-founder of Fathom Solutions which provided strategy and IT consulting services across the nation until it was purchased by Cognizant Technology Solutions. He has worked with many of Country’s most prominent technology companies. Dolan has transitioned from the ‘billable hour’ to the ‘fulfillable hour’ and is lending his expertise to the City of San José. Dolan was appointed Director of the Office of Civic Innovation and Digital Strategy in June of 2018 where the following year, San José was named “Most Innovative City in America” by the Center for Digital Government. Dolan was appointed interim Deputy City Manager in 2021 and he assumed the role of Chief of Staff for the City Manager, Jennifer Maguire, on July 1, 2022.

Dolan is a native Californian who Graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.  Jogging, hiking, skiing, and cooking are some of Dolan’s favorite hobbies.

Director, Administration, Policy, and Intergovernmental Relations
408-535-8100
Email 

Sarah brings 12 years of wide ranging policy experience in local government to the City Manager’s Office. Prior to coming to San José, Sarah was Policy Director for the Milwaukee Health Department, a city lobbyist, and Chief of Staff to the Milwaukee Council President. During her time there, she provided leadership around policy development, strategy planning activities and cross-sector collaborations, systems improvement consulting, and data and evaluation capacity building. Sarah also brings experience in federal and state legislative advocacy, fiscal policy management, multi-sector partnerships, and innovative program development.

Sarah moved to San José with her family in 2019, to serve as Assistant to the City Manager where she provided organizational strategic support to the City’s leadership team. Her special projects included advancing the City Manager’s Enterprise Priorities, Council policy priorities, as well as strengthening policy solutions through the deliberate use of data in the City’s Emergency Operations Center in 2020 and 2021.

Sarah has developed award winning programs, and was recognized as a Leader of the Future by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. She is passionate about advancing race equity and systems change work in local government, and is driven by placing community members, and especially the most vulnerable, at the heart of policy work.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UWM-Madison and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. She is originally from Puerto Rico. In her free time, Sarah and her husband Arthur love traveling with their two kids.

Director, Budget
408-535-8142
Email 

Jim Shannon has served as the City Manager’s Budget Director since June 2019 and has nearly twenty years of experience working within a variety of public sector agencies.  Starting with the City of San José in 2012, Jim has held several positions in the Budget Office, including Assistant Director, Deputy Director, and Capital Budget Coordinator.  Prior to coming to San José, he worked for the City of San Bruno in the Public Works Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the State of California’s Department of Water Resources.  Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in Evolution and Ecology from the University of California at Davis, and a Master of Public Administration from San Francisco State University.

Director, Office of Communications
408-535-7777
Email  

Carolina Camarena brings more than 20 years of communications experience to the City Manager’s Office. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Carolina started her public service career in former San José Mayor Susan Hammer’s Office as a Communications Coordinator. Since then, she has worked in several City of San José departments, including the City Manager’s Office, the Environmental Services Department, and most recently the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department as the Public Information Manager. She has also served as Emergency Public Information Branch Co-Lead in the Emergency Operations Center since July 2020. 

Carolina has developed several award-winning communications programs and projects. Most recently, she was the recipient of the 2020 Award of Distinction from the California Association of Public Information Officials for the community event “Explore Your Park.” Through a variety of community engagement and communication strategies, Carolina has contributed to advancing the City of San José’s core values. She will continue to advance the City’s values by transcreation - using culturally relevant and language-accessible messages and images –  while ensuring all San José residents and businesses have timely and accurate information. 

Carolina is a San Josean who takes great pride in working for the city she lives and grew up in. She is a graduate of Independence High School and lives in Evergreen with her family. 

Director, Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs
408-535-8184
Email  

In her role as Director of the Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs, Nanci is responsible for facilitating job growth, revenue growth, and investment in San Jose through strategy, persistence, collaboration, and creativity. She oversees a staff of 50+ employees with core service areas in Business Development, Regional Workforce Development, Real Estate Services, Cultural Affairs, and Administration.

Most recently, Nanci served as Assistant Director of Economic Development and the City’s Director of Real Estate. She led high-performing teams in three areas: Business Development, Real Estate, and Administration. She also managed an extensive personal portfolio of high-profile projects, including serving as lead negotiator of the Google Project Development Agreement and the City’s purchase of 900 acres in Coyote Valley—the largest conservation effort in South Bay history.

Some of Nanci’s other accomplishments include serving as the City’s Project Manager for the San Pedro Square Market, the $300M Japantown Mixed Use Development, the reimagination of the flagship IBM/Hitachi/Western Digital Property, development of the Coleman Highline project, and the $28M sale of the Hayes Mansion. She contributed to the development of Santana Row and Valley Fair; the attraction, negotiation, and development of the Samsung project in North San Jose; development of the Earthquakes Stadium and expansion of Shark’s Ice. She also serves as the City’s principal representative to Shark’s Sports and Entertainment (SSE).

Nanci started her career with the City of San Jose as a Budget Analyst in the City Manager’s Budget Office. She then served as a Development Officer for the San Jose Redevelopment Agency where she negotiated and facilitated projects like the San Jose Museum of Art/Whitney Museum collaboration. Nanci went to the City of San Leandro as the Economic Development Manager and drove commercial and industrial development in addition to co-founding the “Sausage and Suds” festival. Nanci returned to the City’s Office of Economic Development in 1998, holding several positions in succession until she became the Assistant Director and Director of Real Estate. Nanci holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration from San Jose State University. Nanci is a Fellow of the Rose Center for Public Leadership and an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow and was selected by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a “Women of Influence.”

Director, Office of Emergency Management
408-794-7050
Email 

With 33 years experience, Raymond Riordan is currently the Director of City Manager’s Office of Emergency Management for the City of San José, CA. He was hired following the historic February 2017 Coyote Creek Flood, and assisted the City in its recovery from the flood and instituting action to address the over 240 items identified in the post disaster after action and improvement report. His employment included Program Manager for Emergency Preparedness for the City of San Ramon Police Department in California, Acting Executive Director of the California Utilities Emergency Association, the Acting Security and Emergency Manager for East Bay Municipal Utility District, and Senior Emergency Planner for Contra Costa County, CA. He is a Certified Emergency Manager, recognized by the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), and he serves as the elected Chair for the California Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (or CalWARN).

Among his professional awards, he is three-time recipient of the International Association of Emergency Managers Association Partners in Preparedness Award and three-time recipient of the California Emergency Services Association President’s Award for leadership in emergency management.

He completed a BS degree from Santa Clara University, a MS degree in Industrial Organization from San José State University, and he has published articles on emergency planning in several journals, including the American Water Works Association Journal Magazine.

Director, Office of Racial and Social Equity
408-535-8146
Email 

Zulma Maciel is the Director of San Jose’s newly created Office of Racial and Social Equity, where she aims to institutionalize equity and support sustainable, transformational change so that, ultimately, Black and Brown communities experience better outcomes. Her diverse leadership experiences, track record of authentic community partnerships, results-driven approach, and commitment to racial justice has enabled Zulma to live out her calling in this new role.  

Zulma has served the public for over two decades in various capacities, such as, policy development, administration, and management of a $15M grant portfolio. In 2015, she became the first Director of San Jose’s Office of Immigrant Affairs committed to creating an environment of belonging and service to immigrants and refugees. Collaboratively with community partners, Zulma developed the City’s first Welcoming San Jose Plan that outlined an ambitious set of goals and strategies in service of immigrants and refugees. 

In her spare time, Zulma volunteers on local non-profit boards and regularly enjoys hiking and Pilates. Zulma is binational (México and US citizen), bilingual, and bicultural. She earned a B.A in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.