David Kiff
County Administrator Sheryl Bratton has appointed David Kiff to serve as Interim Director of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission. The appointment will now go to the Board of Commissioners of the CDC on June 8 for approval. If approved, Mr. Kiff will take the role of Interim Director beginning July 1, 2021. Mr. Kiff comes to the position with 30 years of experience in state and local government, including most recently as Interim City Manager for Sonoma and, prior to that, Healdsburg.
“David has a wealth of government experience, particularly in addressing the areas of housing and homelessness, and we are fortunate to have him fill this critical position,” said County Administrator Sheryl Bratton.
Mr. Kiff’s professional experience includes overseeing multiple local, state and federal housing programs including for the city of Newport Beach where he managed the city’s first permanent supportive housing project for chronically homeless veterans. Mr. Kiff would later become president of the Orange County City Managers Association and, for four years, a member of the Orange County Commission to End Homelessness. He later served as Interim City Manager of Huntington Beach and for the City of Healdsburg. He is currently the Interim City Manager of the City of Sonoma. As Interim City Manager, Mr. Kiff has taken on major challenges to address economic development and stabilizing city operations during the pandemic, homelessness and housing programs, effective service to the Latinx community in the city and around it, and modernizing finance procedures.
“This is an exciting but challenging opportunity to work with the great staff at the CDC, the Continuum of Care Board, the County and with our cities, as we all try to improve our region’s system relating to affordable housing, homelessness and making great neighborhoods,” said Kiff. “There is so much going on in these fields across California. This is a time when great progress can be made in Sonoma County with the good people already involved. I’m so happy to be a part of that effort.”
As Interim Director, Mr. Kiff will direct, and coordinate Sonoma County’s affordable housing, homelessness, redevelopment, and community development programs, as well as all operations of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission, Housing Authority, and Redevelopment Agency. He will oversee and direct program compliance reviews and analyze performance outcome measures to measure program effectiveness. Mr. Kiff’s role will include working with local groups and government agencies in assessing affordable housing and homelessness to meet community development needs.
Mr. Kiff was born in Marin County but grew up in Sonoma County on a produce farm his family still owns today. He attended Healdsburg High and attended Santa Rosa Junior College while living in the area. Mr. Kiff would go on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento and a Master of Government Administration Degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
