The City Council on Tuesday appointed Tom Hatch as interim city manager after former manager Mike Futrell voluntarily stepped down from the position last month. The council voted unanimously to approve the appointment and authorize the mayor pro tem to execute the employment agreement.
Hatch, who comes with more than 36 years of experience, has served as interim city manager for the cities of Orange, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Ana and Placentia. His broader career includes roles with Walnut, Brea, South Pasadena, West Covina, El Monte, Costa Mesa and the County of Orange, where he served as chief human resources officer overseeing roughly 16,000 employees. He spent more than seven years as Costa Mesa's city manager, following five years as assistant city manager, and currently resides in Costa Mesa.
At the meeting, Councilmember Steven Robillard said the council's intention after Futrell departed was to find an experienced executive to guide the transition. In the meantime, assistant city manager Edward Enriquez served as acting city manager, then interim city manager, while the city engaged a search firm to recruit a professional interim candidate.
"The role of a professional interim city manager is different from simply filling the position," Robillard said. "An experienced interim city manager brings an independent perspective and seasoned city management experience, and the ability to focus exclusively on organizational stability while giving the council the necessary time to conduct a thoughtful search for a permanent city manager."
Robillard said that throughout Hatch's career, he earned a reputation for strengthening organizations during periods of transition "while maintaining operational excellence."
"That experience aligns directly with Riverside's needs today," Robillard said. "Hatch understands that as an interim city manager's role is not to redefine the city's direction. The city council establishes policies and sets priorities. His responsibilities are to implement that direction, provide organizational stability, and support our employees, and ensure Riverside is well positioned to attract an outstanding permanent city manager."
At the meeting, Hatch thanked the council.
"It's a big decision. You can tell that by the callers that called into the meeting. You can see it in your faces as I've met each of you," Hatch said. "I'm going to work very hard to make you very proud of that vote and work very closely with you. And I'm excited about the opportunity."
He also shared his three key priorities for his time as Riverside's interim city manager.
The first, he said, is to "keep projects that you already have and priorities moving forward."
"You've already made many policy decisions on what Riverside needs," he said. "The staff worked hard to bring those forward. My role is to work with staff, provide them support, and ensure that those continue to move forward. Sometimes in transition periods, things can slow down. We don't want that to happen."
Number two, Hatch said, is to make good long-term decisions for the city of Riverside.
"This position is required to do that if you want to keep moving forward," he said. "I'm a very decisive person, but I'm decisive because I'm confident in the fact that I'm going to assess the situation, assess the organization, learn from the organization, learn from staff, listen to the community, listen to you, and make decisions that are in the best long-term interest of the city of Riverside."
Hatch's third key priority is to assist in preparing the organization for a new permanent city manager.
"That is a key thing that ensures that my work here helps the next person be as successful as possible," said Hatch.
Hatch also told the council he was "proud and excited about working with you in terms of your approach and style."
He said he previously worked in some cities that had "difficult" council dynamics, making every decision and discussion difficult.
"You're respectful to each other. You're cordial to each other. You don't agree on everything, but you work through it because I think the focus that you all have is working together for the betterment of Riverside," Hatch said. "Not all councils do that at times, and so I'm excited about that opportunity because I have other choices too. But you're a group that I want to spend some time [getting] to know and work hard for, and so I'm excited about that."
Hatch begins his position on July 31, 2026, and his contract is set to end no later than July 31, 2027 or earlier upon the hiring of a permanent city manager or termination by either party.
His compensation is set to $195.05 per hour, a reflective hourly equivalent of the city manager's salary listed on the city's publicly available salary schedule, according to Robillard at the meeting, and Hatch may work no more than 960 hours per fiscal year, as a retiree under the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). State law governing such retired-annuitant appointments requires the city to keep the permanent city manager recruitment open during his tenure — a process already underway ahead of Tuesday's vote.
The agreement provides no city benefits — including no health, dental, vision, life, or legal insurance, retirement, deferred compensation, leave accruals, or stipends, except workers' compensation coverage and reimbursement for authorized non-community work-related travel expenses.
At the meeting, the council also gave direction to city staff to post the recruitment page for permanent city manager — noting that it was already live on the city's website.
Hatch's appointment closes out a leadership shakeup that began in April, when Futrell announced he'd accepted Pasadena's city manager job, only to reverse course 10 days later and stay in Riverside.
However, Futrell voluntarily resigned from his position during a council meeting on June 16 after the City Council's closed session meeting agenda listed a possible censure for him – and after his wife, entrepreneur Susan Freeman, filed a defamation claim against the city amid conflict between her and city officials.
Freeman had filed a government claim against the city on June 10, alleging defamation, reputational harm and First Amendment retaliation. The claim was filed through her attorney, Carol Sobel of the Law Office of Carol Sobel in Santa Monica.
The claim stems from a Dec. 11 letter the city sent her in response to her Dec. 4 letter to the City Council asserting her First Amendment rights. The city's letter alleged she contacted city employees through "unwanted and harassing calls, texts, emails, comments, social media posts and other communications to city employees."
The council accepted Futrell’s resignation and approved an agreement that he would be placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately until July 5, according to a city press release. The city also agreed to pay Futrell's severance in a lump sum equal to nine months of regular salary and 401(a) contributions and one month of health benefits.
The agreement provides that there are no pending claims or actions between the city and city manager, with both parties releasing each other from any claims during Futrell's employment, which began January 2023.
