Riverside City Manager Mike Futrell will step down effective July 5, after months of political fallout in City Hall. The city placed him on paid administrative leave, agreed to pay severance equal to nine months of salary plus retirement contributions and one
Riverside City Hall’s unrest won’t end with a new memo or a reshuffled staff chart. On Tuesday, City Manager Mike Futrell agreed to step down—effective July 5—after the City Council met behind closed doors.
At the public portion of Tuesday’s meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Steven Robillard told residents that Futrell was placed on paid administrative leave until his departure date. The city will also pay severance in a lump sum equivalent to nine months of his regular salary and retirement contributions. along with one month of health benefits.
In a statement posted to social media, Futrell framed his exit as part of a “mutually agreed upon leadership transition.” He wrote: “I leave with gratitude for the privilege of serving and with great confidence in the city’s future.”
Robillard’s remarks landed amid a broader picture of strain inside Riverside—political conflict, legal fights, and mounting criticism over how the city handles internal misconduct and public resources.
Futrell’s resignation caps months of turmoil that began long before Tuesday’s vote. It was, in fact, the second time in recent months that Futrell had announced he was leaving the city. His earlier announcement detonated into a political kerfuffle that involved his wife, Susan Freeman, and Riverside City Hall staff.
In April, Futrell said he’d accepted a job as city manager of Pasadena—then reversed course after a letter emerged in which the Riverside City Council accused Freeman of harassing municipal employees. Freeman denies the allegations.
Freeman later filed a government claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, over the letter last week. Her claim alleged that the city investigated her without due process as retaliation for her social-media criticism of the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Freeman agreed to drop the claim. She signed a settlement agreement and release of claims.
“This experience has tested me, changed me, and reminded me of the importance of standing firmly in one’s truth while also recognizing when it is time to close a door,” Freeman wrote in a statement posted to social media.
While Futrell’s exit is now set for July 5, the search for his replacement is already underway. Assistant City Manager Edward Enriquez will serve as acting city manager during the search for a permanent replacement, officials announced Wednesday at a press conference.
The city also said it finalized an agreement with a new city attorney, James Johnson. He replaces former city attorney Phaedra Norton. who filed a lawsuit alleging she was terminated last year after she reported that a City Council member had leaked confidential information to a friend who was suing the city.
Futrell’s departure doesn’t come in isolation. Riverside officials have faced criticism over the city’s handling of an internal investigation involving senior code enforcement officers. The investigation. city officials say. alleged that two officers engaged in physical altercations with street vendors and improperly seized their property. It also alleged supervisors retaliated against a whistleblower who reported the conduct.
And outside City Hall, Riverside’s voters have turned skeptical. Officials are grappling with rejection of a ballot measure that sought to increase and extend the city sales tax. City officials said they wanted the money to fund an overhaul of the fire department. Some observers described the vote as a referendum on city leadership.
Dan Hoxworth, co-chair of the Affordable Housing Organizing Network of Riverside, said, “The voters of Riverside clearly said, ‘we don’t trust you with our dollars. You are not being fiscally responsible to us,’” pointing to the sales-tax vote and broader disputes over housing funding.
Hoxworth also said Riverside is under investigation by the California Civil Rights Department over allegations that the city violated anti-discrimination laws when it rejected a $20-million state grant intended to fund a permanent affordable housing project. He said the City Council voted against the project despite many public comments supporting it.
There is also a hard edge to Futrell’s time in office that has echoed through recent Council deliberations: the city has seen rapid turnover in top leadership over the years, making it harder to address long-term challenges.
Futrell has served as city manager since 2023. When he first announced he was leaving, the city credited him with helping lead Riverside out of the post-COVID era. A city news release said he expanded economic development efforts and helped advance major projects. including a new library. police department headquarters and agricultural innovation center.
But his tenure also included setbacks that sharpened public frustration. He recently presented a city budget proposal containing nearly $18 million in cuts, citing slowing revenue growth alongside rising payroll, pension and other costs.
In a statement, Robillard thanked Futrell for his service and said, “Riverside has tremendous momentum, and I remain optimistic about the direction of our city.”
Riverside has also had a pattern of hiring outside city managers. In a statement submitted to the City Council on Tuesday. Ben Clymer and Malissa McKeith—former chair and vice chair of the city’s Charter Review Commission—argued that the turnover has made it difficult to address long-term challenges facing Riverside.
During Futrell’s tenure. the statement said residents raised concerns about a draw down of city reserves and alleged public-utilities mismanagement. among other issues. The letter said: “Whether one agrees with those criticisms or not. they represent matters of legitimate public concern that deserved serious examination and were largely ignored.”.
Clymer and McKeith also pointed to how executive contracts are negotiated in closed session and include compensation that typically goes beyond what private citizens make. while taxpayers bear the financial burden of city settlements. including long-term pension obligations. “The recent ‘comings and goings’ of the Futrells highlight the need for serious reform of executive compensation,” they wrote.
Futrell was preceded by Al Zelinka, who served from 2018 to 2023, before leaving to become city manager of Huntington Beach. Before Zelinka, John Russo was city manager from 2015 to 2018, when he was terminated after his high pay drew scrutiny. The statement added that Russo’s departure led to then-Mayor Rusty Bailey filing a lawsuit against the city.
For the record: A previous version of this article misspelled the first name of Riverside’s previous city manager as Art Zelinka. It is Al Zelinka.
With Futrell’s resignation now fixed for July 5, Riverside is left in the familiar, destabilizing position of leadership transition—except this time, the timing comes as the city also tries to absorb the fallout from internal investigations, legal disputes and a sharply disappointed electorate.
Riverside City Manager Mike Futrell Edward Enriquez City Council severance city attorney James Johnson Phaedra Norton Susan Freeman Pasadena public safety fire department ballot measure