City of Portland
Danielle West
May 17, 2023
Portland hires first female manager in city history
By Ann Fisher
Danielle P. West, an attorney who has served as the city’s interim city manager since November 2021, was hired permanently May 15 and will assume the position immediately as part of a three-year contract with a first-year salary of $210,000.
West is the first woman to serve in the permanent city manager role in Portland. She took over temporarily when Jon Jennings stepped down to take a position in September 2021 as city manager in Clearwater, Fla. Jennings led Portland for six years, during which he oversaw the city budget process and managed a workforce of 1,400.
West will receive a one-time sign-on bonus of $7,500, and her base salary will include cost-of-living adjustments at the same rate as all other non-union city employees, according to terms set by the council. She will also be entitled to merit payments of between 3-5%.
"I’m honored to receive the mayor and council’s nomination and I appreciate the continued support they’ve shown in me with this decision,” West said. “I’ve emphasized a commitment to communication, transparency and relationship-building during my time as interim and I look forward to continuing with those commitments.
"I’m also excited to continue to work with our amazing city staff in carrying out the delivery of exceptional municipal services and operational work, while at the same time helping the council achieve its policy goals.”
West has almost 20 years of experience advising and working with and for Maine municipalities. She served as the city's Corporation Counsel from September 2012 to November 2021, when she supervised a staff of six, including three in-house attorneys, two administrative staff/paralegals and an insurance claims manager.
"Danielle has substantial experience formulating innovative ways to solve problems for the municipalities she has worked with and brings significant institutional knowledge and understanding to her work with Portland," said Jessica Grondin, city director of communications in a previous news release.
West holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oswego State University in New York and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law. She lives in Portland’s Oakdale neighborhood with her two children and will be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“I’m grateful and encouraged that Danielle has accepted our offer to take on the permanent role of City Manager,” said Mayor Kate Snyder, who served as chair of the Council’s City Manager Search Subcommittee. “Danielle has served the city extremely well during this longer-than-expected transition period. Her expertise and institutional knowledge helped provide city employees with effective leadership and helped the council tackle a wide range of critical issues and challenges. I look forward to continuing to work with her.”
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