Watsonville hires new city manager

The city of Watsonville has a new city manager.

At the council meeting Tuesday, Charles A. Montoya was appointed as the new city manager.

Mayor Nancy Bilicich released a statement on the decision and said “We are very excited to have found someone as qualified and enthusiastic to become our next city manager. Mr. Montoya’s background strongly fits the needs of the city. This was a unanimous decision of the council and we look forward to his leadership.”

Montoya brings over 23 years of professional management experience at municipal, county and state government levels.

He most recently served as the Town Manager for the city of Florence, Arizona where he helped improve economic development activity in the downtown area as well as continued to provide core services during a downturn in the economy.

Montoya has also served as the Director of Finance in Castle Rock, Colorado.

He is expected to officially start on November 30, 2015.

Montoya replaces Carlos Palacios who served over 18 years as city manager. Palacios resigned in January to become Deputy County Administrator for Santa Cruz County.