The accidental city manager: Manhattan Beach’s Bruce Moe didn’t intend to have a career in city government. The job chose him.
Newly appointed City Manager Bruce Moe. Photo When he looks back, somehow it all makes an odd sort of sense. But 30 years ago, if you’d told Bruce Moe that he’d one day be finance director, much less city manager, for the City of Manhattan Beach, he’d have laughed out loud. Laughter comes easily to Moe, a 29-year veteran of Manhattan Beach city government who is now its newly appointed city manager. This is in keeping with a quality of Moe’s MBPD Chief Derrick Abell spoke about during last week’s State of the City — a kind of infectious goodwill that tends to make those around him feel better. Abell recalled running into Moe early in his own 27-year career, when Moe was a purchasing agent for the city; Abell said Moe always had a smile on his face and left him feeling, “If you have the opportunity to work in the city of Manhattan Beach, whatever is going on, you are not having a bad day.” Moe, 57, grew up in Los Feliz. His dream as a teenager was to become a photographer, but during his childhood, some seeds were planted that would later flower into his career as a public servant. His father, Bruce Sr., had obtained a degree in public administration from USC and held public…
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