Who will lead SLO County beach town after city manager was abruptly dismissed?
Morro Bay will soon have a new interim city manager — and locals may recognize her.
The Morro Bay City Council voted 4-1 to appoint longtime Los Osos resident Andrea Lueker to the position of interim city manager at a meeting on Thursday. Councilmember Cyndee Edwards cast the lone dissenting vote.
“I have no doubt and no concerns that Ms. Lueker will be able to be impartial and be able to be objective in the execution of her duties as city manager,” Councilmember Jeff Eckles said at the meeting.
Lueker previously served the city of Morro Bay for 27 years, including seven years as city manager.
“I was with the city for 27 years, and it’s got a soft spot in my heart. It always has,” Lueker told The Tribune. “It’s exciting to return 11 years later to see some of the changes and some of the things that haven’t changed.”
Lueker resigned from the city manager position in 2013 after then-Mayor Jamie Irons pushed to fire her and then-city attorney Robert Schultz, according to previous Tribune reporting. The city did not provide a reason for the resignation.
A group of Morro Bay residents then launched a recall effort against Irons over his attempt to fire Lueker and Schultz. The recall effort failed, according to Ballotpedia.
Schultz recently returned to serve as Morro Bay’s interim city attorney, and, like a case of déjà vu, Lueker will join him on city staff once more.
Lueker will start work as an “at will” employee on Tuesday. She will work up to 40 hours a week at $118.16 per hour without health insurance or retirement benefits, the contract said.
Her contract will expire as soon as 30 days following the start date of a permanent city manager, but no later than Jan. 15, 2026, the contract said.
“I enjoy city government because I feel like that’s where things happen,” Lueker said. “You can make a difference in city government.”’
The quest for a new city manager
The City Council abruptly dismissed former city manager Yvonne Kimball on June 24 without explanation. Lueker will support the city during its transition to new leadership.
In this role, Lueker said her primary goal is to provide steady leadership through the transition between city managers.
“If we were in a port, I’d say — steady the ship,” she said.
She said the primary issues facing the city include keeping a balanced budget, staying engaged with renewable energy projects like battery storage and offshore wind, maintaining a healthy and happy workforce, managing housing opportunities and balancing tourism with the needs of the community.
Besides her time as Morro Bay city manager, she previously worked as the the Port San Luis Harbor District harbor manager, the executive director of the nonprofit Morro Bay Community Quota Fund and as an adjunct professor at Cal Poly, her resume said.
She currently serves with numerous community organizations, including Save Cuesta Inlet, according to her resume. She formerly belonged to REACT Alliance, a nonprofit organization that formed to fight the development of offshore wind. She recently resigned from the group to avoid any conflict of interest, she said.
Lueker said she has no ambition to serve as a permanent city manager, especially because she has a 1-year-old grandson she enjoys spending time with. But she hopes to help the city recruit a “fantastic person to fit the position,” she said.
A controversial appointment
While the City Council majority welcomed the interim city manager with open arms, Councilmember Cyndee Edwards said she was concerned about Lueker presenting the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Lueker joined a group of community members at a recent Morro Bay City Council meeting to discuss offshore wind and the Toro Coast Preserve. When completed, the new San Luis Obispo County Park will protect almost 2,000 acres of former Chevron land in Cayucos and Morro Bay, including a 20-acre, dog-friendly beach.
At public comment, Lueker said restrictions and covenants on the property may prohibit offshore wind companies from laying cables there to carry electricity from the wind farm to shore. She asked the City Council to send a letter to the California Coastal Commission to raise this issue.
“I understand that that is your First Amendment right to come to the podium and to support and fight for what you believe in,” Edwards said. “My concern is whether or not ... you can display neutrality and unbias when you are with us interim city manager. I would not be doing my job if I did not question this.”
Lueker, however, said she will act with integrity as interim city manager. If she encountered a project on the job that she felt strongly about or had advocated for publicly, she would discuss the issue with the city attorney and City Council to determine her involvement in the project, she said.
Despite her no vote, Edwards said she still looks forward to working with Lueker.
“I am hopeful that we will be able to work forward to do our job, which is to have a seamless transition to support the staff that we have going through this time, and to make sure that we come out the other side hiring a city manager that we can all be proud of,” Edwards said.
Lueker agreed.
“I look forward to working with Edwards as I look forward to working with all the City Council people,” she said.
Some community members shared reservations about Lueker’s appointment, too.
Morro Bay resident Shoosh Crotzer urged the council against hiring Lueker to the position, primarily because she said Lueker did not support the relocation of the wastewater treatment plant while she was city manager.
The original 1956 facility was located in a tsunami and flood zone, and it was later rebuilt farther inland for $160 million — opening in 2023.
“She did enough damage when she was the city manager previously by delaying the construction of our sewer treatment plant, causing our city huge cost increases and potential catastrophe,” Crotzer wrote in an email to the City Council. “I do not think the community deserves to have to suffer her biases once again, after she had already proved she does not represent the direction the community wants to go.”
Lueker, however, told The Tribune that she implemented the City Council’s direction on the project — even when plans changed.
Early during Lueker’s tenure, the City Council pursued permits to rehabilitate the existing wastewater treatment plant. But after the next election, the newly formed City Council changed course and asked the Coastal Commission to revoke the permit for the project. Lueker said she worked to implement both decisions.
“As a city manager, I take direction from the City Council,” she told The Tribune. “There was no point when I worked at the City of Morro Bay where I went against a City Council and the direction that they gave me.”
The majority of Morro Bay residents who spoke at public comment or emailed the City Council supported Lueker’s appointment.
“An excellent choice,” Morro Bay resident Gary Kuris wrote in an email to the council. “She was one of the best employees Morro Bay has ever had — dedicated, efficient and smart. We’d be lucky to get her back.”
