The Indio City Council voted to promote Jonathan Nicks to be the next city manager, the official who runs the government day to day.
The city manager is a hired professional akin to a CEO who oversees the operations of the city and all of its staff and departments. The manager reports to the elected council, which sets the broader policy direction of the city.
Nicks, Indio’s assistant city manager since 2024, will take over the position from Bryan Montgomery, who recently announced his plans to retire as city manager this summer.
Nicks will receive an annual salary of $312,000, per a contract approved by the council at its meeting Wednesday, May 6. The closed-door meeting where the council discussed whether to approve the contract lasted more than an hour longer than scheduled, and once the public session resumed, Mayor Elaine Holmes apologized for keeping Nicks waiting.
Before coming to Indio, Nicks served as the deputy city manager for Menifee. Earlier in his career, Nicks worked as the deputy director for Orange County Parks and Community Services and as community services and public works director for the City of Placentia, also in Orange County. Nicks holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Long Beach.
Montgomery, who was hired as Indio’s city manager in 2021, previously said he plans to serve with his wife as a missionary in Latin America for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after his retirement.
City officials credited Montgomery’s leadership while Indio has seen through several recent projects, including its downtown revitalization efforts, its new public library, a sports park slated to open this month, its public safety campus under development and more.
Councilmember Waymond Fermon said succession planning had been part of the conversation since Montgomery was hired and that Montgomery had done a great job of bringing Nicks in and getting him up to speed, while Nicks had hit the ground running.
Nicks told the council he appreciated “having a friend and mentor like Bryan to get me to this pinnacle in my career” and also the support he has received from the city.
“When people ask me, ‘Do you want to be city manager?'” Nicks said, “I said ‘No, I want to be city manager of Indio.'”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indio names new city manager to replace departing leader
Reporting by Tom Coulter and Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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