Tony Winney

Tony Winney to be interim City Manager in Lemon Grove

Photo of Tony Winney from Winney's LinkedIn page

By Karen Pearlman

Jan. 17, 2026 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove City Council will formally appoint former Coronado Assistant City Manager Tony Winney as interim City Manager, with a start date of Jan. 26.

The City Council is expected to hire Winney at an annualized base salary of $215,000 at this Tuesday's City Coucil meeting. The hire ends a three-week period of a vacant city manager position after Lydia Romero stepped down on the last day of 2025.
 
According to the city staff report on the matter, the former city manager's employment contract with the city terminated by its own terms on Jan. 1 and "no action was taken by the City Council to extend the former city manager's employment contract."
 
Romero has not made a statement about her departure from the city after 10 years of service. Winney has been part-time Deputy City Manager - Special Projects for the city of Rancho Cucamonga since
February 2025.
 

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