San Diego City Council members finalized Monday the hiring of a new chief operating officer and said the move could start restoring public trust in City Hall after a series of recent missteps and scandals.

Longtime civil servant Bethany Bezak takes over day-to-day operations of the nation’s eighth-largest city, putting her at the helm of an organization with a $6 billion budget and more than 12,000 workers.

Bezak was praised effusively Monday by labor leaders, the city auditor and private sector organizations like the Padres, San Diego Gas & Electric, the Hillcrest Business Association and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

She was called a hard worker who leads with humility, takes a no-nonsense approach to red tape, speaks bluntly when necessary and never tells people something can’t change just because it’s been done a certain way for years.

Bezak, 44, said her early priorities would be preparing for El Niño storms, the city’s budget crisis, renegotiating outdated city leases and listening to employees to learn where major changes are needed.

Her annual salary will be $460,000, and her total compensation with fringe benefits will be $541,000.

The chief operating officer position has been essentially vacant for the last 20 months, with Mayor Todd Gloria serving in a dual role as mayor and COO — a move that has sometimes drawn harsh criticism from council members.

Council members praised Gloria for reversing course and heeding their calls to name a COO. The move comes four weeks after a trash over-billing scandal renewed those calls.

“I’ve been a bit vocal about the need for the city to restore trust with the public, and how part of that effort starts with re-establishing a chief operating officer,” Councilmember Kent Lee said Monday.

Councilmember Vivian Moreno agreed.

“I think your appointment represents a new day for the city of San Diego,” Moreno said to Bezak before the council confirmed her appointment in an 8-0 vote. “It’s an opportunity to ensure that our day-to-day operations receive the constant attention, focus and leadership they deserve.”

Councilmember Henry Foster, perhaps Gloria’s loudest critic at City Hall, praised the mayor’s decision to finally take the council’s advice and fill the position.

“I’m glad the city will, at long last, have a chief operating officer,” Foster said.

But Foster said Bezak’s appointment won’t make much of a difference if the mayor allows political expediency to be more important than problem-solving in the directions he gives to Bezak.

“I’m not sure this addresses the root of the problems with this administration,” Foster said.

Council President Joe LaCava was much more upbeat.

“She’s the right person at the right time,” LaCava said.

Bezak’s confirmation as COO culminates a rapid seven-year rise in San Diego city government, during which she has gone from assistant deputy director in the Stormwater Department to the city’s top administrator.

Before coming to San Diego, Bezak 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.

Bezak, who lives in Pacific Beach with her husband, said her job comes with a responsibility to taxpayers in every decision she makes.

“We must earn their trust through our actions and the results we deliver,” she said.

Bezak also said she will focus on social equity, including an ongoing city policy that prioritizes infrastructure projects in low-income neighborhoods.

While some public speakers complained Bezak’s salary is too high, Moreno contended that Bezak has the kind of track record that could land her an even more lucrative private sector job.