Nicks hired by City as new community services director

New Menifee City Manager Armando Villa's first major hire since taking over last month came Thursday, when City officials announced that Jonathan Nicks is the new community services director.

Nicks has 20 years of local government experience, according to a news release, including his most recent position as deputy director of Orange County parks and community services. He also served as executive director of the Placentia Community Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for local community programs.

"I am thrilled to begin working with the City of Menifee team," Nicks said in the press release. "With Menifee being a relatively new city, I see great opportunities to make an impact in the organization and within the community as the city continues to grow and develop."

Nicks holds a Master of Public Administration from Cal State Long Beach and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Cal State Fullerton. He is a member of the National Parks & Recreation Association, American Public Works Association, and California Parks & Recreation Society.

Gina Gonzalez, the City's economic development manager, has been serving as acting community services director since late September 2017, when Robert Lennox left the position. At the time, interim City Manager Ron Bradley wouldn't comment on details of Lennox's departure, which came on the say day that Finance Director Bruce Foltz left his position. Lennox later told Menifee 24/7 that circumstances surrounding the City's prolonged attempt to take over control of all parks and recreation programs from Valley-Wide Recreation & Park District had limited his ability to build the department in the manner he was hired to administrate it.

"It's always better when people in this kind of city management position are able to fully operate without restrictions," Lennox said. "The lack of detachment inhibited my ability to operate as a full-fledged department head should be able to operate. I can't say that's the whole reason, but it certainly was a factor."

The City's attempt to detach itself from Valley-Wide has not been resolved. The Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission last July ruled that the City of Menifee could take over parks on the east side of the City from Valley-Wide, but only if residents approved the move in a public vote and Menifee paid Valley-Wide $1 million.

In October, after LAFCO denied Menifee's appeal of the ruling, Bradley said city officials would "continue to exhaust all administrative options" in response, and that a lawsuit to challenge the ruling was possible. No further action has been announced by either side since then.