Lodi Taps Elk Grove's Kara Reddig as New City Manager
Lodi Taps Elk Grove's Kara Reddig as New City Manager, Ending a Year of Turmoil at the Top
LodiEye — April 2026
Summary
After more than a year of acting appointments, interim placeholders, and legal bills approaching seven figures, the City of Lodi has hired Kara Reddig, Deputy City Manager of Elk Grove, as its next City Manager. A seasoned municipal executive with more than two decades of local-government leadership, Reddig arrives to stabilize an office that has cycled through four different managers since April 2025 — and to reset a City Hall still working through the fallout of the Scott Carney removal, an estimated $600,000 in legal costs, and two independent reviews of the city's internal controls.
A City Hall in Need of a Reset
Reddig steps into an office that has been in crisis since former City Manager Scott Carney — appointed in May 2024 after serving as Deputy City Manager in Stockton — was placed on paid administrative leave in April 2025 amid audit findings and allegations regarding the misuse of city funds. The Lodi City Council formally moved to remove Carney in October 2025 following two independent reviews.
In the interim, Parks and Recreation Director Christina Jaromay served as acting city manager, followed by 30-year local-government veteran James Lindsay — whose tenure was capped by CalPERS's 960-hour retired-annuitant limit — and then Aaron Busch, named interim City Manager in February 2026.
The Lodi Chamber of Commerce reported that the turmoil has cost the city "hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and employee costs" on top of roughly $600,000 in legal fees. The city has since announced "immediate and proactive steps to strengthen its financial oversight and internal controls" — the environment Reddig inherits on day one.
Who Is Kara Reddig?
Reddig is a senior municipal executive whose LinkedIn profile describes more than two decades of progressive leadership in local government, most recently as Deputy City Manager for the City of Elk Grove. She attended Arizona State University and began her Elk Grove career in the Finance function before moving up through the City Manager's Office to the Deputy role.
Along the way she was named Elk Grove's Employee of the Year — Service Excellence Award winner in March 2012, and in May 2025 received the Career Excellence Award from California Women Leading Government, a peer-nominated honor for senior women executives with sustained impact on California local government.
Key Achievements in Elk Grove
Reddig's Elk Grove portfolio is unusually broad for a Deputy City Manager, touching finance, policy, placemaking, and human services:
- Old Town Plaza / Railroad Street redevelopment — She served on the finance team that converted a former quarry storage yard into Elk Grove's first outdoor municipal center, anchored by a 9,000-square-foot open-sided pavilion, in a project notable for being led almost entirely by women in roughly 20 leadership roles.
- District56 — She has been a public face and executive sponsor of Elk Grove's 56-acre civic campus, which includes an Olympic-size aquatic center, community center, veterans' hall, senior center, and a 28-acre nature preserve.
- Homelessness services — On her watch, Elk Grove stood up a year-round homeless shelter in November 2024, deployed Homeless Navigators using Measure E funds, and produced what the city describes as the lowest per-capita homelessness rate in the region; she has personally briefed the Council on the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary shelter.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leadership — As Elk Grove's Inclusion Leader, she authored the city's annual DEI Reports to the Community beginning in 2021 and delivered program updates to the City Council as recently as March 2025.
- Intergovernmental and legislative affairs — She has been the department head of record on state legislative analyses and regional policy updates presented to the Elk Grove City Council.
- Workforce development — She has mentored high school participants in the Institute for Local Government's Summer at City Hall program, exposing students to careers in law and public policy.
Compensation: What She Leaves, What Lodi Likely Pays
Reddig's 2024 Elk Grove compensation, per Transparent California, totaled approximately $265,427 in cash wages — $237,742 in regular pay plus $27,685 in other pay, with no overtime. Her 2023 total package, the most recent year with fully itemized benefits, was $308,835, comprising $190,285 regular pay, $46,726 in other pay, $53,485 in employer-paid health and retiree benefits, and $18,339 in employer-paid retirement contributions.
That reflects roughly a 60 percent increase over her 2017 total of $162,601 — a steady climb tracking her expanding portfolio. Elk Grove's official salary schedule effective July 13, 2025 sets the Deputy City Manager classification at $88.79 to $113.33 per hour, annualizing to between $184,683 and $235,726, meaning Reddig was at the top of her authorized range.
Executive Compensation Benchmark (Total Cash Wages, 2024)
Source: Transparent California (2023, 2024); City of Lodi employment agreement (2024); California State Controller GCC (2024).
Benchmark Table
| Benchmark | Base / Regular Pay | Total Cash + Other | Loaded w/ Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reddig — Elk Grove Deputy CM (2024) | $237,742 | ~$265,427 | est. $335K–$345K |
| Reddig — Elk Grove Deputy CM (2023) | $190,285 | $237,011 | $308,835 |
| Jason Behrmann — Elk Grove City Manager (2024) | $320,295 | — | $357,783 |
| Scott Carney — Lodi City Manager (2024 contract) | $275,000 | — | — |
| James Lindsay — Lodi Acting CM (2025) | $140/hr | — | — |
What Lodi Is Likely Paying to Land Her
Three market forces frame Reddig's likely Lodi package. A lateral-plus-promotion from Deputy to City Manager typically carries a 15–25 percent bump, which on her $237,742 Elk Grove base would land between $273,000 and $297,000. Carney's $275,000 base establishes a floor — it is politically difficult for the council to pay a vetted outside hire less than her predecessor. And the Elk Grove City Manager comparator of $320,295 sets a plausible ceiling if Lodi wants to defend against Reddig eventually succeeding Behrmann.
A final package in the $285,000–$310,000 base range, plus standard CalPERS retirement, executive auto and phone allowances, and tightened severance protections, would be consistent with market — representing a 20–30 percent total-compensation increase over her current Elk Grove package.
Why Her Profile Fits the Moment
Lodi's next City Manager needs a blend of financial rigor, intergovernmental savvy, and community-facing leadership — precisely the mix Reddig has demonstrated in Elk Grove, where she moved from Finance into senior executive ranks while handling state legislative analysis, homelessness services, civic placemaking, and one of California's more sustained municipal DEI programs.
Her Career Excellence Award from California Women Leading Government signals peer recognition at the statewide level, and her LinkedIn self-description as a senior executive with "two decades of progressive leadership" aligns with the seasoned outside hire the Lodi council signaled it wanted when it declined an internal-only succession in 2025.
The Contract Language to Watch
The single biggest variable in Reddig's final deal — and the one most likely to draw public scrutiny — is whether the council has learned from the Carney experience. The severance, paid-leave, and performance-evaluation clauses that became the most contested parts of Carney's agreement after his removal will be the first place residents, journalists, and watchdog sites should look when Reddig's signed contract is posted to the city's document center.
If the council has tightened those provisions, it will be the clearest signal that Lodi's 12-month crisis at City Hall has produced real institutional learning — and that Reddig is being set up to succeed rather than simply to stabilize.
LodiEye will update this article when the signed employment agreement is posted to the City of Lodi document center.
This LodiEye article was produced using artificial intelligence tools under the direction and editorial review of Lodi411's human editor. Lodi411 uses multiple AI platforms in its research and publication workflow, including Anthropic's Claude (primarily Opus and Sonnet models) and Perplexity AI across a variety of large language models offered by each. These tools were used in the following capacities:
Source Discovery: AI-assisted search and retrieval identified more than a dozen primary sources, including City of Elk Grove council staff reports and salary schedules, City of Lodi news releases and employment agreements, Transparent California compensation records, California State Controller's Government Compensation in California database, regional news reporting (Stocktonia, CBS Sacramento, Yahoo News, 209times), ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine, Comstock's Magazine, and Reddig's LinkedIn profile. Perplexity AI was used for initial source discovery and real-time data retrieval; Claude was used for deeper analysis of identified sources.
Credibility Validation: AI cross-referenced claims across multiple independent sources, prioritizing government datasets (Transparent California, State Controller GCC, official city salary schedules), primary documents (signed employment agreements, council staff reports, FPPC Statements of Economic Interest), institutional analysis, and news reporting. Multiple AI models were used to independently verify compensation figures and the timeline of Lodi's city-manager succession.
Analysis and Synthesis: Claude Opus and Sonnet assisted in pattern identification (tracing Reddig's career trajectory through compensation data and policy portfolios), framework development (the three-force compensation benchmark model combining lateral-promotion uplift, predecessor floor, and comparator ceiling), and comparative analysis (Elk Grove Deputy CM vs. Elk Grove CM vs. Lodi CM pay bands).
Presentation: Claude assisted in drafting, structuring, and formatting the report for clarity and readability, including the benchmark comparison table, the inline Kendo compensation chart, narrative framing of the Lodi City Hall crisis timeline, and the "contract language to watch" editorial close.
Final Review: Multiple AI models reviewed the completed draft for factual consistency, source attribution accuracy, logical coherence, and balanced presentation. All editorial judgments, analytical conclusions, and publication decisions were made by Lodi411's human editor.
Lodi411/LodiEye believes transparency about AI use in journalism serves both readers and the profession. We use multiple AI platforms — including Anthropic's Claude (Opus and Sonnet) and Perplexity AI — as research, analysis, and presentation tools, not as autonomous authors. All editorial judgments, analytical conclusions, and publication decisions are made by Lodi411's human editor, who directs and reviews all AI-assisted work.
References
- Kara Reddig — LinkedIn Profile (City of Elk Grove)
- City of Elk Grove — City Manager's Office
- Stocktonia — Lodi Council Moves to Remove City Manager Amid Audit Findings (Oct 2025)
- CBS Sacramento — Lodi Appoints New Acting City Manager (May 2025)
- Yahoo News — Lodi City Council Selects Parks Director as Temporary City Manager
- City of Lodi — City Manager Page
- City of Lodi — Scott Carney Appointment Announcement (May 2024)
- City of Lodi — Scott Carney Employment Agreement (2024)
- Lodi Chamber of Commerce — City Manager Update
- 209times — Lodi Interim Management Compensation Reporting
- Transparent California — Kara J Reddig 2024 Compensation
- Transparent California — Elk Grove 2023 Salaries
- Transparent California — Elk Grove Salary History (2011–2024)
- California State Controller — Government Compensation in California (Elk Grove)
- City of Elk Grove — Salary Step Schedule (All Classes)
- Elk Grove Council Staff Report — February 11, 2026
- Elk Grove DEI Program Update — March 12, 2025
- Elk Grove Citizen — Council Honors Women's History, Extends Sanctuary (March 2024)
- Comstock's Magazine — City of Elk Grove Profile
- ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine — Old Town Plaza / Railroad Street Project
- Institute for Local Government — Summer at City Hall Program
Contact: editor@lodi411.com