PALM DESERT – The Palm Desert City Council selected current Palm Springs Economic Development Director Lauri Aylaian to be its new city manager Aug. 25. She will succeed John Wolhmuth, who was asked to resign under controversial circumstances earlier this year.
Aylaian was unanimously chosen from almost 50 applicants for the position and was announced as the finalist at this afternoon’s city council meeting.
Mayor Robert Speigel said Aylaian “is the best person for the job. She has great knowledge of our city and will be able to hit the ground running.”
Aylaian formerly served as the city’s director of community development and fulfilled a number of other positions from 1999 until her appointment in Palm Springs late last year.
“Palm Desert has crafted an exciting new vision for the future, and has an exceptional staff that embraces the vision and is anxious to implement it,” Aylaian said. “I’m honored to be chosen to play a key role in building this future.”
Aylaian takes the mantle from John Wohlmuth, who resigned in April after city officials said he circulated a nude photo of a city employee to city staff members.
The photograph, taken by Wolhmuth, depicted a male staff member poised to swim naked at Wolhmuth’s backyard pool because he had forgot to bring swim trunks.
Employees penned letters to the city’s Human Resources Department complaining about Wohlmuth’s behavior, stating that he laughed over the incident, saying “everyone should see” the picture.
One of the letters also accuses Wohlmuth of “racist and sexual remarks, hitting a female co-worker, pulling a co-worker’s hair, bullying co-workers and otherwise acting in a very unprofessional manner.”
City Attorney Robert Hargreaves said that in the wake of Wohlmuth’s indiscretions, the city would take measures to ensure harassment and discrimination in the workplace stops.
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