City Manager's Office

City Manager

The City Manager's office is responsible for the city's day-to-day operations and oversees city departments. The City Manager and Assistant City Manager are accountable for the overall management of the city's 1,500 full-time and part-time employees delivering a full range of municipal services to the community with the total annual operating budget of approximately $532 million in all funds.

After a nationwide recruitment, the City Council selected Al Zelinka to lead Surf City at its May 3, 2022 City Council meeting.

Since June 2018, Zelinka served as the City Manager for the City of Riverside. Prior to serving as the Riverside City Manager, Al served as the Assistant City Manager and Community Development Director for Riverside, as well as the Community Development Director and Planning Manager for the City of Fullerton. Altogether, he has 20 years of executive-level experience. Al’s career objective is to “make a difference” in communities and the profession. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a Certified Main Street Manager, and is certified in Community Economic Development.

Al has been highly successful leading efforts for towns, cities, and developers that improve and/or revitalize neighborhoods, commercial districts, downtowns, and corridors by working with community members in meaningful ways to facilitate desired investment and achieve envisioned outcomes. Al holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Planning from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University.

Did you know?

Since its inception in 2016, the Homeless Task Force has had more than 1,600 occasions to assist individuals with housing referrals, mental and physical health referrals, bus passes, DMV forms, gas cards, food, mailing addresses, and family reunifications