New city manager fills two top Suisun City positions

Article Last Updated: Thursday, Aug 25, 2005 - 10:51:50 pm PDT

New city manager fills two top Suisun positions

By Ian Thompson

SUISUN CITY - Suisun City's new city manager has yet to even sit down at her new job and she is already moving on her first goal - filling the city's top positions now held by interim administrators.

Suzanne Bragdon, working through interim City Manager Jim Randall, filled both the planning director and newly created assistant city manager jobs with people she knew from Grover Beach in San Luis Obispo County.

Bragdon had served as an economic development consultant for Grover Beach before taking the job in Suisun City.

Ron Anderson, most recently Grover Beach's city manager, will be Suisun City's assistant city manager starting Sept. 16. Anderson also spent 25 years with the city of Fresno in a variety of positions that included working on the city's finances and managing public utilities.

Jake Raper, also from Grover Beach, is starting immediately as Suisun City's community development director. Before working for Grover Beach, Raper had worked for a number of planning agencies in Central Valley towns such as Riverbank, Waterford and Folsom.

The new city manager has yet to hire people to head the city's redevelopment agency, presently filled by interim director Al da Silva, and the finance department, temporarily filled by Diane Briltz.

Bragdon, who was appointed to her job by the council in mid-July, is expected to start work Aug. 30, Randall said.

The council made building what they called a strong and effective management team Bragdon's first priority when they hired her.

Bragdon also faces tasks of increasing finances in the city's tautly stretched budget, pushing forward redevelopment plans and improving Suisun City's economy.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net