Mammoth looks to Oakland for new town manager

February 26, 2011

Marianna Marysheva-Martinez.

The Mammoth Lakes Town Council and legal staff went looking for a major leaguer to fill the Town Manager’s job, and they may have found one in Marianna Marysheva-Martinez.

She’s dynamic, and has big-city smarts, as the town staff will discover Wednesday, when she takes over as Interim Town Manager.

Gov. Jerry Brown, then the mayor of chaotic Oakland, turned to Marysheva-Martinez to be his budget director for five years. She then served for five years as an assistant city administrator in Oakland’s Ron Dellums Administration.

“I was in charge of many city functions,” she said, “and among them were responsibilities for budget and finance, and that applies to this particular job.”

She says she knows what she’s getting into.

“It is exciting to join a community with so much going on,” she said, “especially during travel seasons.

“At the same time, the community has some challenges having to do with long-term fiscal planning and the immediate challenge having to do with the Hot Creek litigation and settlement.

“The challenges are what attracted me. I do take pleasure and pride in solving challenges, and it’s something I hope to be able to accomplish.”