GARDEN GROVE City Hall (OC Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

On the same night that it bid goodbye to its long-time city manager Scott Stiles, the Garden Grove City Council officially installed Lisa Kim as the new top appointed official in the City of Youth and Ambition.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of an employment agreement with Kim with an annual salary of $292,074. The deal is for three years with two automatic two-year renewals.

LISA KIM, new Garden Grove City Manager.

“I’m very excited,” said Kim, who has served as assistant city manager and community and economic development director. “I’m going to roll up my sleeves and tackle any problem no matter how small or how large.”

The appointment of Kim, a Korean American, to the city manager post is historic because she’s believed to be the first Asian American to ever rise  to that position in Orange County.

She came to Garden Grove from Orange, where she was involved in the revival of that city’s downtown, as well as the conversion of The Block shopping center into The Outlets in Orange power center and outlet mall.

In Garden Grove as community and economic development director, she oversaw a wide array of operations from code enforcement to planning to the more visible task of bringing new businesses to Garden Grove such as the Pavilion West shopping center on Chapman Avenue anchored by a Sprouts Farmers’ Market and the Steelcraft urban outdoor eatery in the Civic Center area.