Community Development Director Hired

Newport Beach has hired Kimberly Brandt to be the city's community development director.

Brandt is Costa Mesa's development services director and the executive director of the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency. She starts in Newport on May 23 at an annual salary of $174,116 plus benefits.

City Manager Dave Kiff said Brandt has more than 30 years of professional planning experience and has led a number of award-winning projects.

“She is exceptionally well-versed in community development and municipal planning and has an innate ability to work through challenging processes and problems," Kiff said. 

Newport Beach recently merged its planning and building departments into a single Community Development Department. Brandt will direct a staff of 51 full-time employees and manage an annual budget of about $7 million.