National City’s revolving door at the top may finally be slowing down. Yesterday, the City Council voted unanimously to appoint Douglas Schulze as permanent city manager and Heidi Skinner as permanent city attorney, a double hire meant to put an end to years of churn in City Hall’s top ranks. For a South Bay city used to drama and quick exits, the rare unanimous votes signaled a moment of cautious unity.
Appointments, contracts and pay
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the council signed off on three-year employment agreements for both positions. Schulze will receive a $300,000 base salary. Skinner’s contract sets her base pay at $265,000 and includes guaranteed 4 percent raises after years one and two, contingent on performance. The Union-Tribune reports that Skinner told the council, "I love being here. I can't wait to work with you, Doug," while Schulze promised to be "accessible, transparent and responsive." Union representatives also stepped up to the mic to publicly support the appointments during council comments, giving the new leadership team a notable show of early backing.
Schulze’s experience and Skinner’s interim role
Schulze arrives with a long municipal resume. He served as city manager of Banning from October 2018 through March 2025, according to that city’s official meeting materials. Skinner, meanwhile, has already been a familiar presence at National City Council meetings, working as interim city attorney under an employment agreement that appeared in a council packet earlier this year. On Wednesday, the council simply made her role permanent as part of the same package of actions that installed Schulze.
Why the council wanted stability
The urgency for stability has been building for years. National City has cycled six different people through the city manager’s office in just three years and has been operating without steady executive leadership since April 2025, the Union-Tribune reports. That stretch included a permanent city manager hired in December 2023 who was pushed out in April 2025, plus other abrupt departures that forced staff to repeatedly adjust to new bosses. The result was a City Hall with thin institutional memory and constant reorientation.
What comes next
The new hires step in at a time when the city is in a financial squeeze. Hoodline notes that the city adopted a $89.1 million general-fund budget for fiscal 2026-27, leaving little margin heading into the following year. Councilmembers said Schulze and Skinner will be expected to steady day-to-day operations while staff and elected officials confront tough choices on programs and revenue over the coming year.
Councilmembers expressed hope that locking in both a city manager and a city attorney for three years will help rebuild continuity and morale at City Hall. With their contracts now in place, the two executives have a clear runway to tackle near-term budget and staffing headaches, and city watchers will be eyeing their early moves closely as they settle into the job.
