Following the departure of two deputy chief operating officers, the mayor’s office told Voice of San Diego they will reorganize the mayor’s executive team.
Eight months ago, Mayor Todd Gloria eliminated the chief operating officer position and fired then COO Eric Dargan. The mayor’s chief of staff told Voice of San Diego that, since they no longer have a chief operating officer, they are reorganizing the mayor’s team to no longer reflect deputy chief operating officer positions.
They confirmed the executive team will still consist of seven people, along with Mayor Gloria’s Chief of Staff Paola Avila.
The current city organization chart outlines five deputy chief operating officers, which includes the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Rolando Charvel. The chart also includes police Chief Scott Wahl and fire-rescue Chief Robert Logan.
The mayor’s office said this transition is part of the mayor’s plans for his second term. They also said they plan to reveal a new city organization chart in early December.
On Wednesday, City Hall sources told Voice the city fired Alia Khouri, deputy chief operating officer for operations and Kristina Peralta, the deputy chief operating officer for neighborhood services.
Avila said that information is “inaccurate” but would not say if they were fired or resigned. She said they do not comment on personnel matters.
“The transition on our Executive Team includes Rania Amen and Bethany Bezak joining the Mayor’s leadership team,” said Avila in a statement over email. “These changes are part of a thoughtful, organization-wide realignment. In the coming weeks, we will share a new organization chart to deliver on our ambitious agenda to increase efficiency and accelerate progress on the issues that matter most to our residents.”
In a Wednesday email to her team, Khouri wrote, “I wanted to share with you all that I will be leaving my role with the City on December 2, 2025. It has been a privilege to work with all of you, and I am grateful for the experiences we’ve all shared.”
The mayor’s office confirmed two people will be filling in for the deputy chief operating officers as they transition. Amen, director of engineering and capital projects, will be filling Khouri’s position, and Bezak director of transportation, will be filling Peralta’s position.
The move comes after councilmembers pushed to eliminate two deputy chief operating officers during the contentious budget negotiations earlier this year. The mayor vetoed the action, but then Council managed to include the final staff cuts in the budget approved on July 1. After the negotiations, Voice learned the mayor decided not to lay off staff. The number of top executives reporting to the mayor is not going down and it’s not clear this is a reduction in expenses as the Council mandated in its budget.
City Manager
Suggest mayor Gloria select an independent businessman to be city manager. Business managers are trained to make profit, control costs etc. while political managers work to please voters – leading to more spending and taxes.
This may be uncomfortable, but necessary for San Diego’s long term good, especially with the changes AI is expected to employment.