Arroyo Grande's new city manager starts in January 

After spending thousands of dollars on a national search to find the best city manager for Arroyo Grande, its City Council decided on a local candidate.

During its Dec. 12 meeting, the city announced that Matthew Downing will take over the job from interim City Manager Bill Robeson on Jan. 8, 2024.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Matthew Downing
• FIRST TIME MANAGER Pismo Beach Community Development Director Matthew Downing will become Arroyo Grande's city manager in January. It's his first time in such a position.

"I'm very humbled and I'm very honored to have this incredible opportunity to serve as your city manager," Downing said. "I've always felt a very deep connection to this community from the very first day that I was an intern in Arroyo Grande."

Downing stayed local to SLO County for all of his adult life and is currently Pismo Beach's community development director. His coworker, Pismo Beach Public Works Director Ben Fine, told Arroyo Grande's City Council that Downing has completed lasting work for the city.

"I've known Matt for about five years now, and I'm honored to say he's a friend. Should you go through with hiring Matt down here, I can tell you that you are going to end up with a city manager who is highly ethical, someone who is honest and fair and someone who will do everything in his power to build bridges in the community and among staff," Fine said during the Dec. 12 meeting. "Despite the fact he has not been a city manager before, I will predict he will be the best city manager that the city has seen."

In Arroyo Grande, Downing will receive a salary of $235,900 a year, benefits equal to other city employees', $2,200 in deferred compensation annually, a $150,000 in a life insurance policy, a monthly cellphone allowance, and $500 a month in automobile allowance, City Attorney Isaac Rosen said.

Community member Patty Welsh, who spoke during public comment, said she disapproved of the appointment due to Downing's lack of prior city management experience.

"Didn't the city spend thousands of dollars on a national search for a candidate who has experience and is qualified? Yet, you hire someone who possesses neither of these attributes," Welsh said.

She compared Downing's appointment to previous managers such as Dianne Thompson, who she claimed was hired for the city manager position with no prior experience and was later terminated because of it.

"Why does the city continue to hire inexperienced personnel? Does this make financial sense?" Welsh asked. "It's hard to support a city that is asking for a sales tax increase when you can't even successfully hire and keep a city manager. How can we have confidence in our City Council to spend appropriately when you continue to make poor financial decisions."

Councilmember Jim Guthrie responded with support for Downing and by pointing out mistakes in Welsh's comment.

"I certainly understand the public's concern with the fact that we do have a history here with a difficulty in this position. I will point out that Dianne Thompson had over 10 years of experience as a city manager, so experience doesn't always translate, and we were certainly concerned when we reviewed the 31 applications that we had for this position," Guthrie said. "I'm sure we made a great choice here and will be even happier 10 years from now when we're still going."

Councilmember Lan George also spoke in favor of Downing.

"He's very eloquent in his speech, he's respectful, authoritative, and he's very specific in the work that he does and he does it well. I have every confidence and every belief that Mr. Downing will do an amazing job here for our city, and although he may not have ever been a city manager, that doesn't mean he can't be a great one," George said. "I'm looking forward to Mr. Downing proving Patty wrong tonight." ∆