Three weeks after a trash over-billing scandal prompted loud calls for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to give up his role overseeing day-to-day city operations, Gloria is doing so by naming a new chief operating officer.
Gloria is turning over the reins to Bethany Bezak, a longtime civil servant who’s made comprehensive improvements to how San Diego handles paving and sidewalk repair since she came to the city nearly seven years ago.
Bezak, 44, is known among city leaders as a hard worker who is detail-oriented and focused on giving city workers the resources and support they need to make dramatic improvements in service and efficiency.
“She will devote every moment to serving the city and do it passionately,” said Gloria, describing Bezak as an employee who has an intense work ethic that exceeds his own. “She is extremely resourceful and innovative. I think this is going to be a great next chapter for my administration as well as the city.”
The City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on confirming Bezak’s appointment as COO.
Critics, including several council members, have said the trash billing scandal and other city missteps could have been avoided if Gloria hadn’t been performing the dual roles of mayor and chief operating officer for the last 20 months.
“This mayor has proven — has shown time and time again — that he does not have the experience, the knowledge, the skills to lead the operations of this city,” Councilmember Henry Foster said last month in the wake of the trash billing scandal.
Gloria took over the city’s day-to-day operations after firing chief operating officer Eric Dargan in early 2025. Dargan’s departure came with the city facing a $150 million deficit.
“At that moment, I thought the most important thing for me to do was to become personally involved in the day-to-day operations of the city and try to address the significant challenges,” Gloria said Wednesday. “It’s what was needed during a difficult time.”
The mayor said the city has essentially eliminated its structural deficit since he began performing the duties of COO, and he believes there is now a stronger leadership team in place.
“I think this appointment represents completion of the work to stabilize the city,” Gloria said. “I think this is going to be a great next chapter for my administration as well as the city.”
Before Gloria fired Dargan, San Diego had had a separate COO ever since the city switched to a strong mayor form of government two decades ago.
Gloria said he was skeptical that the trash billing scandal — which emerged when The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that tens of thousands of customers had been overcharged because of a technical glitch — would have been avoided if the city had had a COO.
“It’s a big city — there will be challenges and mistakes,” the mayor said. “There’s a lot going on. We have 12,00 employees and a budget of $6 billion.”
He noted that the city’s pension scandal, its troubled purchase of 101 Ash Street and devastating 2024 flooding all took place when the city had a COO.
Gloria said what matters is that he and Bezak are committed to transparency and accountability when mistakes happen.
“We acknowledged it, apologized for it and fixed it,” Gloria said of how he handled the trash scandal, with help from Bezak. “That’s the approach that should be taken by serious people running a large organization like the city of San Diego.”
Bezak, who now serves as chief performance and logistics officer, said Wednesday that she’s confident she can lead the sprawling city.
“It’s about continuing the momentum forward that we’ve already been able to demonstrate in lots of different areas across our city,” she said.
In her current role, she has been overseeing transportation, general services, purchasing, contracting and data analytics — including the city’s Get It Done! tipster app.
Bezak led the Transportation Department and its approximately 550 employees from 2023 to 2025. From 2020 to 2023, she served in successive leadership roles in the Stormwater Department, advancing from assistant deputy director to deputy director and then director.
Before coming to San Diego, she worked as a consultant in the private sector and as a top official for the water and sewer agency that serves Washington, D.C., and its suburbs.
“I’ve appreciated the diversity of some of my experience because it’s allowed me to bring some creativity and innovation into the role,” Bezak said.
Bezak said she’s grateful for the opportunity.
“Continuing to work alongside Mayor Gloria and this leadership team will be the greatest privilege of my career,” said Bezak, who lives in Pacific Beach with her husband.
When asked about taking over COO duties for a mayor who is termed out in 2028, Bezak said she expects to be kept on by whoever succeeds Gloria.
“I’m expecting to establish operational excellence in a way that any new mayor would come in and say ‘this is the city’s leadership team we want moving forward,” she said.
The labor union representing the city’s 5,000 white-collar workers — the Municipal Employees Association — is praising Bezak’s promotion.
“Bethany knows what our members face in the field every day, and she has a track record of solving problems with employees, not around them,” said Mike Zucchet, MEA’s general manager.
The region’s top labor leader is also praising the move.
“Bethany is a proven leader who has managed large public workforces with respect and delivered real improvements in neighborhoods that have waited too long for them,” said Brigette Browning, leader of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.
“This is a good decision for workers in San Diego and the communities they serve.”
City officials haven’t disclosed what Bezak’s annual salary will be. Dargan was paid $401,000 annually.