Public Works and Local Government Specialist
Cyrus Abhar has more than 30 years of local government management experience and 10 years of private-sector experience. He recently retired after serving as the City Manager for the City of Rancho Cordova for eight years, where he was instrumental in growing the City into the vibrant and thriving community it is today—an award-winning organization focused on serving a diverse population and dynamic community. He managed a $120-million annual budget for the City and, among many accomplishments, successfully led the efforts in the passage of a ½-cent Sales Measure (Measure R) in 2020 which provides $12 million annually to the City’s General Fund for economic development initiatives and infrastructure projects.
Prior to serving as the City Manager, Mr. Abhar served as Rancho Cordova’s first Public Works Director and was recognized as the “Public Works Manager of the year” by the American Public Works Association in 2010. He also served as the City’s Chief Building Official and Assistant City Manager. Prior to joining the City of Rancho Cordova, Mr. Abhar served as the Chief of Operations and Maintenance Division for Sacramento County’s Department of Transportation. Prior to working for Sacramento County, Mr. Abhar worked as a senior engineer and project manager for several private consulting and engineering firms in Texas and California. With strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, Mr. Abhar has worked collaboratively with private developers, nonprofit organizations, and advocacy groups in developing and successfully implementing a variety of projects and programs that have created positive change for the communities in which they were implemented.
Mr. Abhar is a Registered Civil Engineer, Licensed Land Surveyor, Licensed Traffic Engineer, and Certified Chief Building Official. Mr. Abhar received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
“I think Citygate has done a great job. It seems like you’ve been most thorough and even-handed in your evaluations and you’ve given us certainly a lot of suggestions and guidelines to work with.”
City of Vista, CA
“I am very much appreciative of Citygate’s comprehensive view of all the issues. And you have been very candid and very forthright in the problem areas that you have identified and we appreciate that. Quite often sometimes people choose to gloss over those issues and therefore we never can get a real good handle on the problem to resolve it. And I very much appreciate your insight and your intuitive natures that you have all experienced in your government services and trying to identify where our problem areas are so we can identify for the public. I very much appreciate the idea and the comments that you made that we are talking about the citizens who come to the planning Department as customers. And so you’ve done a great service for us and we are certainly appreciative of all your efforts.”
Commissioner Jackson County
“Thank you so much for all you have done. And it’s so comprehensive, I know it’s going to take a while for us to digest it all, but I think you’ve come up with some really good recommendations.”
Pro Tempore City of Vista, CA
“I really, really enjoyed reading your Word product. I appreciate the fact that it was direct, it was constructive, and . . . it wasn’t finger-pointing, it was just . . . the facts. And I think that the money was well spent.”
Salt Lake City Council Meeting
“I really want to express my appreciation for this work that’s been done in a collaborative way in which the study was put together. . . . I’ve seen a number of studies start in the fire department and this is the first one I can remember that has actually been fully completed and brought to the council, and it was done in a very thorough fashion. This is the best assemblage of comprehensive information about the fire department today, as well as what our needs might be in the future, that I have seen. So thanks to everyone. Thank you, Stewart, for giving us our money’s worth on our consultant contract with you.”
City Manager City of San Luis Obispo
“We work with consultants, obviously, all the time, but the work that Citygate did on this report is some of the best I’ve seen in my tenure here.”
Retired Chief Administrative Officer San Diego County