Director of Community Services Stephanie Harris was selected to serve as the next Assistant City Manager for Beverly Hills, joining incoming City Manager Ryan Gohlich’s office in July, following the retirement of City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey.
Harris first joined the city in 2014 as a Management Analyst in the Community Services Department, going on to work as the Community Outreach Manager before being named Interim Director of Community Services in 2023 and later becoming the permanent director. Previously, she worked for the city of Rosemead’s Parks and Recreation Department.
In an interview with the Courier, Harris said she is looking forward to the new role.
“I’m very excited to bring a different perspective to the community,” she said. “From the Community Services Department to the City Manager’s office, I’ve had the privilege of working with each of our departments over the last 12 years in a variety of capacities, and also working really closely with the community that we serve. So, I look forward to supporting Ryan and the City Council as we move forward.”
During her time in the Community Services Department, Harris said she is most proud of her staff members that work day in and day out to meet the community’s needs and carry out council initiatives.
“We’re getting ready to welcome a brand-new playground at La Cienega Park, which the community is thrilled for,” she said. “We’re also looking at Arnaz playground being replaced … The implementation of the pickleball program was a huge success, and something that the community was eagerly awaiting.”
Harris said that constant community input was essential when planning the La Cienega Park renovation, and that she hopes to bring the same spirit of collaboration into the City Manager’s office. Bringing in a swing set as well as moving from sand to poured-in-place rubber surfacing to increase accessibility were results from the outreach process, she added.
“We had a survey open for just a little over a month, where we were soliciting input from the community members that utilize that park facility,” she said. “As well as presenting it to the Recreation and Parks Commission, we also sent the survey out to everyone who was registered to use our classes that had children in that age range. So, I thought it was extremely important to ensure that we heard from the community on what they wanted at the park, or what they felt was most important at a playground that they were going to bring their children to.”
Having overseen the Beverly Hills Public Library and the city’s parks and recreation facilities in the Community Services Department, Harris said the city offers robust opportunities for community engagement.
“If we’re going to talk hidden gems, Greystone Mansion is something that’s really unique to this community,” she said. “There’s the Beverly Hills Public Library and all of our online resources that also offer just a variety of things to our community … There is the avenue too for you to experience different things like Earth Day that’s coming up, working with public works at the Farmers’ Market. I think we really do a lot for the community. Our park sites are beautiful. Whether you want an active park like La Cienega or Roxbury, or you want a passive park like Will Rogers Park. I think we have a lot of gems in the city.”
Looking forward to tackling projects like housing and development, Harris said she sees upcoming issues as opportunities and hopes to bring in as many community voices as possible along the way.
“We have a lot of opportunity facing us,” she said. “With Metro coming, it provides us with new opportunities. There’s also a lot of the big development projects that are coming forward that allow us to bring new families into the community to build upon the programs and offerings that we do here, continuing to support our residents. I think a lot of this is new opportunity.”
