SCOTT STILES, Garden Grove city manager (Orange County Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

Scott Stiles, Garden Grove’s city manager for the last seven and-a-half years, may soon be trading his Strawberry Festival small-town fun for the cutting-edge rock funk of Coachella Valley.

He has been tapped to be the next city manager of the resort mecca of Palm Springs. The announcement was made today  (Friday) by that city, and a final employment agreement goes before the Palm Springs City Council on Jan. 26. 

If the deal is approved there, he would start in his new job on March 6.

In a statement released by Palm Springs, Stiles said, “I am humbled and honored to be selected to lead this dynamic city and resort destination as it moves forward.”

Contacted by The Tribune, Stiles said he would have no  more comment until after his deal with Palm Springs is approved  by the council there.

Palm Springs is both smaller and bigger than Garden Grove. Its population is around 44,000, one fourth of the Big Strawberry. But it’s 94 square miles, compared to 18 for Garden Grove.

An affluent retirement and recreation community, it’s home to 130 resorts. In recent years, it’s arrived on the calendar of rock fans for its annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held each April.

Stiles, 64,  is credited with leading the city from financial woes to stability, for guiding it through the COVID-pandemic, expanding the police force and energizing the city’s efforts to cope with homelessness. He’s also one of the few Garden Grove city managers to live in the city.

Before coming to Garden Grove, Stiles was the assistant city manager in Cincinnati, as well as that city’s interim city manager.