INDIO, CA (August 4, 2017) – The Indio City Council appointed Mark Scott as Interim City Manager at its City Council meeting on Wednesday, August 2, 2017. Mr. Scott has served in numerous management positions, including City Manager of the city of Beverly Hills for nearly fourteen years, as well as City Manager in the city of Spartanburg, South Carolina and the cities of Culver City, Fresno and Burbank.
A resident of Rancho Mirage, Mr. Scott recently announced he was stepping down as City Manager for the city of San Bernardino, a position he had assumed following the December 2015 terrorist attack, to help the city exit a long‐term bankruptcy and restore municipal service levels. After completion of the bankruptcy case in June, he announced plans to retire and spend more time in the desert with his wife Carol Scott, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert. “The timing of Mr. Scott’s decision to leave his position in San Bernardino was fortuitous for Indio,” said Mayor Elaine Holmes. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to bring a seasoned manager like Mark to the city of Indio. Having served as City Manager for the past 28 years, the city will benefit from someone with the depth and breadth of experience that Mark has, and we are fortunate to have him join our team.”
Scott’s city management career has been extensive and diverse. He worked for the city of Beverly Hills for 20 years in total, and was the longest tenured city manager in the city’s history. He then spent six years in Spartanburg, South Carolina, joining a team that was helping to restore the economy in a community that had suffered from the decline of the textile industry. Since then, Mr. Scott has made briefer stops in cities with a variety of specific management challenges. While in San Bernardino, Mr. Scott and his city team worked on a resolution of the 4‐year bankruptcy and took steps to restore staffing, local economic confidence, and service levels that had declined. They also won voter approval of a new City Charter implementing a Council‐Manager form of governance. “We are confident that Mark’s experience and reputation will help us during this transition,” commented Mayor Holmes.
“I am honored that the Mayor and City Council appointed me for this interim position. Since my wife and I moved to the desert, I have taken note of Indio’s strong local identity and huge upside potential. I am proud to take on this role and am energized about working with this City Council and Indio’s management team,” commented Mr. Scott.
Mr. Scott grew up in Fresno, California and received his undergraduate degree in Public Administration from California State University, Fresno. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. His background also includes a stint with American Airlines at their Dallas/Fort Worth headquarters where he was the first Marketing Manager for the AAdvantage program, the industry’s first frequent flyer program. He was also a co‐founder of the City‐County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA).