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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 Council 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.
The proposed employment agreement in the staff report a significant increase from Romero's salary of about $194,000, and also clarifies that Winney will only be paid for the actual time he serves.
During his interim tenure, Winney will hold the full powers of the City Manager position, serving as the city’s chief executive officer and reporting directly to the Mayor and City Council.
Winney will also receive an auto allowance of $500 per month for the use of his personal vehicle, a $250,000 term life insurance policy, 153 hours of annual vacation and 12 days of sick leave, accrued proportionately. He will also receive a city-issued cell phone.
Winney's term is expected to last six months or less, though the contract allows for two optional six-month extensions if both parties agree in writing.
The Lemon Grove City Council is currently in the process of hiring a professional recruitment firm to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent City Manager, a process expected to take several months.
Romero’s departure last month was described by Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow as a loss of a "highly respected" leader who helped stabilize the city's finances.
Romero had some rocky moments in Lemon Grove, involved in several high-profile legal matters and disputes.
She was part of a lawsuit by Marcus Bush in 2018. Bush was a former city subcontractor who sued Romero and then-City Councilmember Jerry Jones. The city settled the suit for $15,000, covering attorney fees). As part of the settlement, both Romero and Jones issued formal apologies to Bush (though the city did not admit liability), who is now a city councilmember in National City. See ECM's coverage here.
Three years later, then-City Coucilmember Liana LeBaron filed a formal complaint against Romero and City Attorney Kristin Steinke, alleging they created a "hostile work environment" and engaged in professional misconduct. That suit was dropped in 2022.
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