Steve Napolitano, a former Manhattan Beach mayor and Superior Court judge nominee, was appointed Hermosa Beach’s interim city manager this week.

Napolitano will start his new position immediately, replacing Public Works Director Joe SanClemente, who had held the position since former City Manager Suja Lowenthal stepped down May 8.

“I’ve lived in the South Bay my whole life and know Hermosa Beach well — from its coastal character to its unique challenges,” Napolitano said in a Wednesday statement. “I’m honored by the council’s confidence and look forward to collaborating with staff, city leadership and the community to strengthen city services, support council’s priorities and preserve what makes Hermosa unique.”

The City Council will start searching for a permanent city manager.

“Steve has a demonstrated ability to tackle the civic challenges that matter most to our community — including improving our infrastructure and civic facilities, supporting economic development, addressing homelessness and enhancing public safety,” Mayor Rob Saemann said in a Wednesday statement. “His life history, strong local ties and commitment to public service provide him with a deep understanding of both the South Bay and governmental operations, ensuring that the city of Hermosa Beach continues to deliver excellent services to our community.”

Tuesday’s meeting, which culminated in a 3-2 vote to hire Napolitano, continued the debate among the council over the past and the future of the position, spawned by the departure of Lowenthal, who had been with Hermosa Beach for seven years.

An unexpected performance evaluation in April raised the ire of numerous residents, former city and school officials, as well as police officials, at meetings on April 22 and May 5. Some had criticized Lowenthal’s performance, saying the government hadn’t been transparent under her and had mismanaged the city since she was hired in 2018.

Following that May 5 meeting, Lowenthal said in a recent interview, she did not want to continue the “chaos” and stepped down on May 8.

Councilmembers Raymond Jackson and Mike Detoy, who have been vocal supporters of Lowenthal, voted against appointing Napolitano during the Tuesday meeting, more for the process of his selection than his qualifications, which include being an attorney and having more than 30 years of experience in local government.

Instead, Jackson moved to have the confidentiality provision from the closed session meetings on April 22 and May 5 waived in the “interest of transparency.”

“The community deserves to know why we’ve been dealing with this confusion and chaos,” Jackson said Tuesday, “and quite frankly, embarrassment for the last several weeks.”

Detoy agreed.

“Steve is a guy that I’ve looked up to as a young elected official in Manhattan Beach, but the process is what I have an issue with tonight,” Detoy said. “I have not interviewed Steve Napolitano. I’ve not heard his qualifications. I’ve not seen his vision, even an interim basis.

“Just based on the process alone and not the person, I will not be supporting this tonight.”

Saemann, along with Councilmembers Michael Keegan and Dave Francois, voted to hire Napolitano on an interim basis, and also voted against Jackson’s motion to waive the confidentiality agreement.

“I’ve signed an agreement not to speak of it and that’s something that’s very important for the city to do,” Saemann said. “So (it) could result in lawsuits and money and quite a mess.”

Jackson, who said he supported Napolitano in his Superior Court bid and is a “fan of Steve,” also moved to disclose the May 13 closed session meeting, which had discussions that centered around Napolitano. That also was shot down 3-2.

“Getting it wrong has real and lasting consequences because we’re confronting a process that it is neither credible (nor) open. Again, no recruiting, no vetting, no public qualification, no competitive search, not even an interview,” Jackson said. “And I have to just stress that again, because anyone who’s applied for a job, anyone who’s hired, anybody knows that you’ve got to do an interview. That’s a basic minimum to make sure that there’s a fit and it’s important that we have the right fit.”

But Francois welcomed Napolitano.

He is looking “forward to having a more friendly city government that’s responsive to its citizens,” Francois said.

“Some of my colleagues may not agree with this type of direction that we’re going, but a majority of us do agree with it, “ Francois said. “I’m hoping we can all get on the bandwagon and move ahead and move to new a new, good future for Hermosa Beach and not trying to become a continual distraction.”

Cynthia Stafford, with Human Resources, said at Tuesday’s meeting that she has reached out to about seven executive recruitment firms to begin the search for a permanent city manager.

“It’s a whole plan,” Stafford said, “engaging the community, engaging the council members, engaging the executive leadership team.”

Napolitano, Stafford said, will have no benefits working on an interim basis and will make more than $115 an hour, or about $20,000 a month.

A “realistic time frame” to have a new city manager is between 90 and 120 days, Stafford said.

Besides his years on the Manhattan Beach City Council — during which he served five terms as mayor — Napolitano also spent 12 years as former Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe’s senior deputy; was the president of the Independent Cities Association; was active with the Contract Cities Association and the League of California Cities; and senior advisor to former Long Beach Councilmember Stacy Mungom fro 2017 to 2022, according to a Wednesday news release.