When Apple Valley Town Manager Doug Robertson retires in December, he will have spent 7 years and 11 months as the town’s top staff member. That duration as city manager one year, four months and a week shorter than the average town administrators in the 75,040 population, 77.08-square mile jurisdiction, which in 1988 incorporated as what was then San Bernardino County’s 21st municipality, the fourth to last of the county’s current 24 cities and towns to do so.
Robertson’s tenure as city manager began after that of Frank Robinson. In 2009, Robinson had succeeded in Jim Cox, who was brought in as town manager in 2007 to succeed Bruce Williams who had been Apple Valley’s original town manager, remaining in that post for the town’s first 19 years.
Of some note is that both Cox and Robertson had made their respective marks on the world as city managers in Victorville before they signed on to oversee Apple Valley.
Marginally smaller geographically than Apple Valley at 74.16 square miles, Victorville is of substantially greater population density, with 141,689 residents currently. Moreover, it is host to Southern California Logistics Airport, a major aerodrome that was converted to civilian use from the former George Air Force Base. Victorville, traditionally and currently, has had a budget that dwarfs that of Apple Valley, as exemplified by the city’s current expenditures of $377 million in 2025-26 in comparison to the town’s $140 million. While Victorville is adjacent to Apple Valley, the pace of life is slower and the intensity of activity far less demanding in Apple Valley than in Victorville.
When Cox, eight years after he retired as Victorville City manager in 1999 agreed to take on the Apple Valley managerial role, he openly stated that he was willing to accept the burden only because he was certain that watching over Apple Valley would not be as demanding as running Victorville had been during the three decades he done so when he was many years younger than he was then. Cox left as Apple Valley Town manager in 2009, but was talked into returning to manage Victorville later that year when the manager who had succeeded Cox a decade before, John Roberts, found himself overwhelmed by the city’s financial challenges.
In 2017, Victorville was paying him $270,292 in salary, in perquisites and other pay add-ons plus $60,197.15 in benefits for a total annual compensation of $393,812.15.
In accepting the Apple Valley position, he took something of a pay cut, as his salary with the town in 2018 was $233,914, augmented with $4,208 in perquisites and pay add-ons, and 57,083.07 in benefits for a total annual compensation of $296,502.07, which was nearly $100,000 less altogether than he was making in Victorville.
The reduction in tension, however, was worth it, Robertson figured.
Over the seven years he has been in Apple Valley, his pay has risen to $284,496 in salary, $33,895 in perks and pay add-ons, and $60,282.45 in benefits for a total annual compensation of $378,673.45, closer to but less than he was making in Victorville.
Robertson’s successor as city manager in Victorville, Keith Metzler, meanwhile, has a total annual compensation package of $486,654.17, consisting of a $343,394.23, $26.229 in perquisites and pay add-ons and $117,030.94 in benefits.
Under Robertson, as was the case under Robinson, Cox and Williams, there was tremendous stability in Apple Valley. Open dissension on the council was relatively rare and raucous displays with regard to public issues in the town generally unheard of. Exceptions to this occurred in the very late 1990s, following the November 1996 election of David Holman and Barbara Loux to the town council, followed two years later following the November 1998 election, when Patrick Jacobo joined them on the dais. From its inception, the town had a firm and fast rule that all single-family homes built in the town be constructed on lots of no less than one-half acre. The town also had restrictions on how much land could be zoned for multi-family, or apartment, use. The Holman, Lux and Jacobo trio, all of whom had ties to the development community, formed a three-member ruling coalition on the council and were able to politically outmuscle their two council colleagues, Mark Shoup and Bob Sagona, in a push to reduce the town’s standards to allow four residential units to the acre as a prelude to even further density concessions. A counter-reaction among town residents ensued, resulting in a committee qualifying a recall election against the troika for the November 1999 ballot. All three recall efforts succeeded. Placed on the same November 1999 ballot was Measure N, which mandated that until December 31, 2020, the “existing rural atmosphere and equestrian lifestyle” of Apple Valley would be respected by requiring a vote of the people on any amendment to the single-family residential element of the town’s general plan, thus safeguarding Apple Valley’s tradition of half-acre lots. Measure N also passed.
In 2007, a kerfuffle manifested when a majority on the council moved to terminate Williams as town manager, holding discussions to do so in a closed session meeting without disclosing the rationale for doing so.
It was announced this week that Robertson will leave at the end of the year.
The city has hired the executive headhunting firm of Bob Murray & Associates to carry out a recruitment for the Apple Valley town manager post.
According to a posting by Bob Murray & Associates, “The Town of Apple Valley is seeking a stable, supportive, and community-focused candidate to serve as the next town manager. The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication and presentation skills. Expertise in finance and accounting along with an understanding of California municipalities is essential to success in this role. A professional, engaged, and customer service-oriented candidate is sought. The successful candidate should have excellent public speaking capabilities along with the ability to collaborate and be business savvy. A candidate who is able to collaborate with and work in support of the council, yet comfortable taking charge and serving as the representative for the Town will do well in this role. qualified candidates typically possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in public administration, political science, business management, or a closely related field along with five years of high-level experience in municipal administration. A master’s degree is desirable.”
The intent is to have completed a recruitment of candidates, from which a semi-finalist list and then a furter winnowing of those deemed most suitable for the post can be interviewed and perhaps even re-interviewed by December, so the council can choose the town’s fifth manager by Robertson’s December 30 departure date. experience in municipal administration. A master’s degree is desirable.”