MARWAN YOUSSEF will be retiring as Westminster city manager after six months on the job.

Westminster will have its fourth city manager in a year and a half after Marwan Youssef announced his retirement at a special meeting of the city council on Monday.

His retirement will take effect on Sept. 13. Replacing him as the top executive of the city will be Christine Cordon, the current city clerk. She will serve as acting city manager.

The announcement came after a three-hour closed session in which the sole topic was an evaluation of Youssef’s performance as city manager.

The series of changes at the top began in February 2020 when Eddie Manfro, who had been city manager since July 2012, retired. Sherry Johnson, finance director, served as interim city manager for one year, and in February 2021, Youseff – who had been public works director – was hired for the top job.

However, the selection of former city councilmember Tyler Diep to a lobbyist post without consulting the council led to dissatisfaction with Youssef.

Consideration of the selection of a permanent selection for city manager will be on the agenda for the meeting of Sept. 22.

CHRISTINE CORDON will serve as acting city manager.

The council also approved a modification to the city’s salary schedule raising the compensation for police chief by about 15 percent. The city is actively recruiting for that position.

According to the staff report, the top candidate for the position has a higher salary than the city’s current pay schedule, so the recommendation was to increase the salary schedule for chief by $17,679.36 annually.

The new acting city manager will have the discretion to also approve a one-time deposit of 120 hours into accruals for both vacation and sick leave. The total cost would be $22,625 annually.

Such an increase will trigger an increase in the city manager’s salary, which would amount to $3,783 annually. The general fund would not be affected, the report said, because vacancies in each department would cover such increases.

Additionally the acting city manager will be able to consider the top candidate or candidates for the chief of police position.