Page 2 February 24, 2022 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
From the Former City Manager
Former City Manager Says
Goodbye and Thank You
On February 2, 2022, City Manager Scott
Mitnick unexpectantly resigned. A copy of
Mr. Mitnick’s official Letter of Resignation
is provided and the Herald invited him to
provide the following “goodbye letter” to
the community:
“To serve the public is an honor. To serve
as City Manager is a privilege. It was an
honor and privilege to serve as El Segundo
City Manager for the past two years and
seven months.
It was a pleasure to work for so many amazing
residents, businesses, and stakeholders.
Being an advocate for over 350 dedicated
and talented municipal employees was the
highlight of each day. In looking back, this
was the most challenging and demanding
public CEO position of my career. It was
also the most productive, successful, and
rewarding experience of my three decades
of public service.
El Segundo is a unique and great community.
This town has a ‘sense of place’
unlike anywhere. No matter if one is a recent
arrival or lived here all their life, everybody
has incredible pride in being an El Segundo
resident. And, they should!
Our residents are also not bashful about
communicating directly with their city government.
Nearly every day, including weekends,
I received multiple questions/requests covering
the full spectrum of municipal services. I
enjoyed every resident interaction…even when
the caller was upset and their voice started
to escalate. Resolving issues (no matter
how big or small) was the most rewarding
aspect of the job.
I am also grateful for the opportunity to
have managed the City organization through
the initial stages of the exciting transformation
that is taking place. I am proud of the
high caliber professionals that were hired or
promoted on my watch, including the recent
promotions of Jaime Bermudez to Police
Chief and Deena Lee to serve as the South
Bay’s first female Fire Chief. Seasoned and
experienced directors were also brought in
to lead the Public Works, Human Resources,
and Development Services departments. City
employees were empowered to do more
and were provided with improved working
conditions, promotional opportunities, and
administrative support that produced positive
outcomes.
Faithful implementation of City Council’s
direction, including its Citywide Strategic
Plan, resulted in the completion of dozens
of exciting public and private sector projects.
This success was impressive in terms of the
numbers and benefits to the community, along
with how the hard-working public employees
delivered all this during the throes of a major
pandemic, budget challenges, and the lingering
LA Hyperion sewage spill odor incident.
While grateful for the experience, I will
miss all of you reading this letter and those
that I was blessed to interact with. Working
for this compassionate community will be
hard to replicate. I will miss what became
my favorite local government job ever.
Thank you, El Segundo for the opportunity
to have served as your City Manager! It was
an honor and privilege.”
– Scott Mitnick
“People in small towns, much more
than in cities, share a destiny.”
– Richard Russo
Eagles Win CIF Water Polo Title
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo girl’s water polo team won
the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship.
Their 13-7 win over the Oxnard Yellow
Jackets at the Wollett Aquatics Center in Irvine
gave the program their first title since 2007.
A large contingent from El Segundo watched
as the Eagles overcame some nervousness to
turn back the Yellow Jackets on a sunlit afternoon.
Before the game, in what could only be
described as one of the proudest moments in
CIF Finals, if not our country’s history, took
place. There was a technical difficulty in playing
our National Anthem over the P.A. system,
so the Public Address announcer apologized
and asked that fans join in with him to sing
our country’s song. It was the most beautiful
rendition sung by the three hundred fans in
attendance and players of both teams.
El Segundo head coach Nila Ward sensed her
team’s butterflies and gathered them together.
“I could tell they were nervous, so I told them
to do everything they already knew how to do.
I told them to treat this game like any other
game on our schedule,” she said.
Sports Shorts
All-Stars Headed to Playoffs
Provided by Lacey Jo Meyers
On Saturday, February 12th, the El Segundo
Boys U10 Premier All-Stars took
the field in what could have been their last
game. Having a 2-1 loss on their record from
two weeks before against Manhattan Beach
left them with few possibilities to move
on. A win by three-plus goals in a shutout
against North Redondo Beach and hope
for South Redondo Beach to shutout first
place Manhattan Beach squad. A slow start
to the El Segundo vs. North Redondo Beach
game had parents biting their nails. The
boys played hard, coming together in the
second half to finish the game 4-0. The joy of
victory was put on pause while the tournament
commissioner awaited an all-important
text for the final score of the South Redondo
vs. Manhattan game. A single goal by Manhattan
Beach would have ended our boy’s
run. They quietly gathered at Campus El
Segundo; all eyes fixed on the commissioner,
the text came in. With a serious, almost
emotionless face, he began to deliver the
results. “You’ve played hard and deserve
the medals I’m about to give you. You are
the AYSO Area 1D champions! I proudly
present you with your gold medals” The
boys exploded in excitement! South Redondo
Beach had beaten Manhattan Beach 4-0.
Their win put the Gundo boys and South
Redondo Beach in a tie. The head-to-head
2-1 win vs. South the week prior would be
the tiebreaker propelling the boys to the
Sectional tournament in March. What an
unbelievably amazing outcome for the team! •
See Eagles, page 6
The El Segundo Eagles pose after winning the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game 13-7 over Oxnard.