Beverly Hills gets a new village manager

BEVERLY HILLS — Warren Rothe is the new village manager of Beverly Hills. His first day on the job will be April 14.

On Feb. 15, all seven Beverly Hills Village Council members conducted interviews of five candidates interested in the village manager position. The process of selecting a new village manager involved tours of the village for each candidate and a community reception so that the residents could get to know the candidates.

“We extended an offer to Mr. Rothe based on his demonstrated level of expertise related to Michigan municipal government,”  Village Council President John George stated via email. “He has been the chief executive in two smaller municipalities previously, and has recent experience in a similar size city to Beverly Hills that offered additional challenges to round out his skills and experiences, so we have no doubt he’s ready to get to work for us.”

Rothe said his first job out of college was as the village manager of the village of Lakeview, where he started in 2018. Following that opportunity, he became the city superintendent for the city of St. Clair.

In 2022, he became the assistant city manager for the city of Grosse Pointe Park.

“He is clearly a student of government, and he came across as excited about the substantial list of large-scale projects the village is currently undertaking,” George stated.  “Council felt that Mr. Rothe was the right person to carry forward the momentum we’ve built over the last couple of years.  We had great response to our manager opening, with well over 100 applicants, which I believe is a testament to the opportunity offered in Beverly Hills.”

Although Rothe is not from Beverly Hills, he does have some ties to the village. His mom went to Groves High School and his oldest friend lives in the village. It is that friend who brought the job opening to his attention.

Rothe said he likes to cultivate a work environment that operates like a family and builds each other up, pointing out that the city manager is also a member of the team.

“At the end of the day, a manager is only as good as the team members who are working with him,” Rothe said. “If they are struggling, I’m struggling; if they’re succeeding, I’m succeeding.”

In addition to Rothe, there are multiple other new members to the management team, including a clerk, finance director and public safety director.

“One of my biggest priorities is just making sure that the onboarding process for everybody, including myself, goes really well. That way, we can kind of pick up where things have been left off, but also then plan new endeavors and new projects to do,” Rothe said.

 

Get to know Rothe
In his free time, Rothe likes to read and travel with his wife. He said that England is his favorite place that he has traveled to thus far. Rothe and his wife have a mini dachshund, Charlotte, that he said they like to spoil.