Fort Bragg’s new city manager, Isaac Whippy, hails from Fiji

FORT BRAGG, 12/17/23 — When Isaac Whippy was growing up in Fiji, he admired the USA and wanted to live and work here. But he couldn’t imagine he’d find a place he liked as much as Fort Bragg.

Whippy, 35, will become Fort Bragg’s new city manager on Jan. 3, replacing Peggy Ducey, who leaves on Dec. 31. He is currently Fort Bragg’s director of finance and will keep that job too, taking home $178,000 as city manager, while no longer collecting pay as finance director. He says he reduced some of the benefits that came with the city manager position to save the city money, but kept the salary at what was offered. He became director of finance in May 2022 and was assistant finance director before that. He began working for the city about nine years ago.

The City Council announced his hiring Monday night and also swore in new City Clerk Diana Sanchez.

Whippy planned to stay in the small coastal town only temporarily — but then he and his family fell in love with their new home.

“There are a lot of similarities between Fort Bragg and Fiji,” Whippy said in a phone interview. “Both are beautiful places in spectacular ocean settings. Both rely on tourist economies. Fiji is known across the world for how friendly the people are, and Fort Bragg is like that too,” he added.

“I am thankful for how this community has been so welcoming to me and my family. I completed my citizenship last year and am proud to be part of this great country and this community.”

He said in Fiji, the standard of living and wages are low despite all the tourists at fancy hotels. That’s a bit like Fort Bragg, which also needs higher paying jobs and has a high poverty rate, he noted.

Fiji is just 5,438 miles across blue Pacific waters from Fort Bragg, according to Google Maps. Whippy graduated from the University of the South Pacific, an internationally and USA-accredited university best known for having campuses on 11 different oceanic islands, with the main campus on Fiji.

Whippy said he was very fortunate to have learned much from the two very different city managers he worked under while serving in the finance department. 

Tabatha Miler, city manager from 2018-2021, was a CPA as well as an attorney. Whippy said he learned a lot about the fluctuations of the budget and getting started on a major effort to bolster reserves.

“I worked closely with Tabatha Miller on the budgeting process. I learned how to do better fiscal management and financial strategic planning for the long term. I put together long-term plans, a five-year financial projection for the city, and we were trying to extend that to 10 years when she left.”

Then he got a new boss in Peggy Ducey and new lessons to learn. She shared what she had experienced  working with large cities and entities in Southern California. Ducey was hired in June 2022 as interim city manager, a position made permanent that November.

“I was able to continue my professional growth working with Peggy. She brought a different style,” Whippy said. He said city employee morale was down after COVID and other issues when Ducey arrived, something her people skills helped reverse.

“She was able to bring a more human element to everything and really improve morale among the employees. I hope to continue that and I will miss her,” Whippy said.

“I’ve learned a lot from both of them, which will be useful in my career. One was analytical driven, and one is more about people, to make sure all employees are taken care of,” Whippy said.

Whippy plans to invite every city employee into his office and learn by listening to their thoughts on where the city should go and where they want their careers to go.

The fact that Whippy has no experience running a city didn’t faze the council. Mayor Bernie Norvell said he liked Whippy for the job even before he saw his finance director doing a great job getting the finances in order to smooth the transition of the C.V. Starr Center from the Mendocino Coast Recreation and Parks District into city management. (Read more on that here.)

“You don’t have to talk very long to be endeared to him,” Norvell said. “Just his story alone. He’s only been in the country nine years. He’s truly living the American dream. He’s made the absolute most of it.”

Norvell said despite Whippy’s calm demeanor, he has no trouble saying no to spending ideas that might not be affordable, even if the idea comes from a councilmember…. or a mayor.

“Yes, I have done some of that,” Whippy laughed. “It’s very important to be very fiscally conservative because our budget is so small. We are dependent on the TOT [Transient Occupancy Tax on overnight visitors] and sales taxes. And those can fluctuate so much and those fluctuations can have big impacts on critical city services.”

That’s why one of his biggest goals is to continue to bolster city financial reserves, or rainy day funds. Significant additions to depleted reserves began under Miller, with Whippy as director of finance and has continued. Reserves are up to $3 million, but Whippy says the process needs to continue, which could restrict some discretionary spending.

“It’s important that he is fiscally conservative and has a great awareness of where we are at any point in the budget,” Norvell said. “This is one of the things that made him such a great candidate for me. We only have to look at the county to see what happens when there’s a disconnect, right? With Isaac we are actually going 180 degrees in the opposite direction.” (Norvell is currently running for the position of 4th District county supervisor.)

Norvell said the big improvement of morale at City Hall was another reason to hire Whippy, who has been at the heart of it. Whippy already fits in and won’t turn something upside down that already works.

Besides increasing reserves and managing revenues that can wildly fluctuate, Whippy now will have to deal with city critics such as Jacob Patterson, a local attorney. Ducey tried to manage frequent communications to staff from Patterson by creating a plan where she was the sole contact, and Patterson had no access to other city employees. Norvell said that plan would likely remain in place with Whippy, as the protocol regarding contact with employees was put in place by the council. Assistant city manager and police chief Neil Cervenka is now Patterson’s single point of contact.

Patterson regularly files hundreds of public records requests and speaks on nearly every item at many council meetings.

Whippy said Patterson has a right to file public records requests and speak at meetings, but the direct contacts with the staff were an issue for almost everybody at City Hall. He said he does not plan to make any changes to the policies the council has enacted for Patterson, although he believes the single point of contact should be himself, not Cervenka.

Whippy wasn’t ready to comment on issues he hasn’t been so involved with so far, such as the Skunk Train but said he would be up to speed when he starts on Jan. 3. Cervenka will be acting city manager on Jan. 2 while Whippy is returning from a trip. Norvell is a little worried Whippy might be taking on too much as both finance manager and city manager.

“He said if it gets to be too much he will come back to us and tell the council we need to do something different. I believe he will if he needs to.”

With Whippy being highly praised for his demeanor and his finance skills, will he use Fort Bragg as a springboard to jump to other jobs?

“We really fell in love with the community and have family here,” he said. “We have a young son, and we want to bring him up in a community like Fort Bragg.  This is an excellent place to raise a family. People here have  been so good to me. My family and I plan to live here for as many years as we can to help the city.”

Several members of the council said at Monday’s meeting they were happy to find two people to appoint from within city staff in Sanchez and Whippy.

Councilmember Lindy Peters said in an email: “It’s always beneficial to an organization when you are able to promote from within. Isaac has shown a great understanding of the city’s financial wherewithal and guided the budget process very efficiently through his time as the city’s finance director. During these tough economic times, the City of Fort Bragg remains solvent. Isaac Whippy is also well-known and well-liked by his co-workers at City Hall. He has earned their trust and respect. I look forward to a smooth succession in the City Manager’s office.”

At Monday’s meeting, Peters also saluted Ducey’s service. “Peggy Ducey came to us at a time when we were struggling to find a city manager. She first came as an interim. We found that she was a good fit. So she entered into a contract to stay on as our city manager…” Turning directly to Ducey, he continued, “I have met with you every week since you took over the job and I can say that you’re an excellent person, first and foremost, full of compassion who tries to do the right thing and tries to understand and give people a chance.”

Sanchez had been acting city clerk since shortly after June Lemos left full-time work for the city due to illness. Lemos died of ovarian cancer on Sept. 28. She had been city clerk for eight years. The city clerk is the record keeper for the city and typically has handled elections and public records requests, along with information preparation for the council.

Whippy had a holiday message he wanted to deliver to the community, which he sent by e-mail after the interview.

“It is truly an honor to serve this incredible community, and I am eager to embark on this journey of collaboration, innovation, and progress. I want to express my appreciation to the mayor, the vice mayor, and the rest of the city council for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading our city. Your confidence in my abilities is both humbling and inspiring, and I am committed to working diligently to meet and exceed the expectations set forth for this role. I am acutely aware that the role of City Manager comes with its challenges, but precisely those challenges fuel my passion for public service. Together, we have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on our residents’ lives and shape our community’s future. I am ready to embrace the responsibilities of this role with dedication, transparency, and a commitment to the well-being of every individual who calls this city home.

“I also want to express my gratitude to the city staff, community leaders, and residents who have already extended a warm welcome. Your support is invaluable, and I look forward to working closely with each of you to build a city that thrives on inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. I extend my appreciation to the dedicated city employees who work tirelessly to keep our community running smoothly. Your hard work and commitment are inspiring and do not go unnoticed, and I am eager to collaborate with each of you to build on the excellent foundation we have established.”

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