Jim served as City Administrator of Santa Barbara from 2001 to 2014 and retired from public service in September 2014. During his tenure as City Administrator, he led the City through a number of significant events including the 2008-10 recession; the General Plan update; two major emergencies, the Tea Fire in 2008 and the Jesusita Fire in 2009; and the dissolution of the City’s Redevelopment Agency in 2012. He was instrumental in the creation of the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Task Force and the South Coast Task Force on Youth Gangs. The City also implemented a comprehensive performance measurement and tracking system under Jim’s direction.
Jim is currently consulting part time to local governments in California conducting organizational assessments, assisting in financial planning, and providing executive coaching services.
Prior to his service in Santa Barbara, Jim served as City Manager in the California cities of Fullerton and Hanford. He also served as Assistant City Manager in Anaheim. He has a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a Master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Long Beach.
Jim is married to Linda O. Armstrong, a retired private banker with Wells Fargo Bank. Jim and Linda are private pilots and frequently fly throughout the United States and Mexico in their 1972 Beech Bonanza. Jim is on the Board of Directors of the Channel Islands YMCA and Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics; is a member of the Santa Barbara Rotary Club; and is a volunteer pilot with Liga International, an organization that operates medical clinics in Sinaloa Mexico.
