Retired police chief appointed to serve as interim city manager in Los Banos

A former police chief has been selected to serve as interim city manager in Los Banos after Josh Pinheiro resigned from the position in January.

Former Los Banos police Chief Gary Brizzee steps into the interim role. Brizzee, who was sworn in as the city’s chief of police in May 2010, served in the position for more than 13 years before retiring from the police department in 2023.

Pinheiro’s resignation comes after he was rehired to the position he was once terminated from. Pinheiro was first hired on as Los Banos city manager in 2021 before the City Council voted to terminate him in June 2022, less than one year after he took over the position.

Then in February 2023, the Los Banos City Council voted 4-1 to rehire Pinheiro as the city manager in addition to paying him $1.8 million as part of deal that would prevent him from suing the city over his previous termination, which occurred roughly nine months into a four year contract.

Brizzee is no stranger to the role of Interim city manager and served in the role in 2017 after former City Manager Steve Carrigan left for a similar job in Merced. He also served in the interim city manager role for six months before Los Banos hired Carrigan in April 2013.

Los Banos City Council voted 4-0 on Feb. 10 to appoint Brizzee to the role of Interim City Manager at a pay of $102.50 per hour.

Los Banos Mayor Michael Amabile said Brizzee did an excellent job while previously serving as the city’s interim city manager as well as his time serving as the city’s police chief.

“While we go out to find a new long-term city manager I couldn’t think of anybody else who knew the city better, that understood the city better-knew the employees that worked for the city plus he’s a good fit with our sitting council and with me,” Amabile said. “We think a lot alike so that all really worked well for us and he’s doing an excellent job in his second week.”

Request for proposals will go out soon, Amabile said, as the city searches for a qualified candidate to fill the position. The city is also looking to fill the positions of finance director, assistant director to finance and economic development director.

“So now we need to get our city back up to running at full speed,” said Amabile.

Pinheiro’s contract stipulated that if he was fired or resigned from the position, he would receive one year’s worth of severance pay. Amabile said Pinheiro has already received the one-year severance pay that totaled just over $200,000. Pinheiro will also receive insurance coverage from the city for a term of one year or until he starts a new job.

In November 2024, Los Banos voters overwhelmingly voted to recall then Los Banos District 2 City Councilmember Douglas Begonia Jr. and District 3 City Councilmember Brett Jones. With the resignation of Los Banos District 1 City Councilmember Kenneth Lambert earlier this year, the District 1 seat remains vacant.

Earlier this year, Evan Sanders was appointed to the District 2 seat and Marcus Chavez was appointed to the District 3 seat.

Amabile said that since state law prevents the council from appointing a majority of members, a mail-in only election will be held in August to fill the District 1 seat. Once that seat is filled, the city will have a full five-member council, Amabile said.

“We’re getting the work done that’s been needed to get done,” said Amabile. “The city’s going to be transparent and open in everything it does.”