The City of South Pasadena is a general law city incorporated on March 2, 1888. It is governed by the City Council/City Manager form of government.
The City Manager is appointed by the Council to oversee the activities of the city. The City Manager serves as the Chief Administrative Officer, ensuring that the policies of the Mayor and City Council are executed effectively and efficiently.
Specific areas of responsibility include oversight of eight operating departments, public information and community engagement, legislative affairs, economic development, following up on citizen concerns, providing recommendations to promote organizational efficiency and overseeing the development and presentation of the annual budget.
About the Interim City Manager
Don Penman has previously been city manager in San Fernando and Baldwin Park. He worked 14 years for the City of Arcadia, retiring as city manager there in 2011. Since then, he has served as interim city manager for Azusa, Covina, San Fernando, Temple City, Ventura and Calabasas. His career spans over 40 years in primarily full-service cities with police and fire departments and he has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from University of Southern California.
About the Deputy City Manager
Domenica Megerdichian has worked for four Los Angeles-area municipalities. Prior to this role, she served as the Economic Development Manager at the City of San Gabriel, where she helped stabilize and grow the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also previously worked for the Cities of Glendale and West Hollywood in the City Clerk Elections and in City Council support roles while pursuing her graduate degrees. Domenica brings a dynamic, proactive, team-oriented and solutions based approach to her work and to the agency.