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The Danville Town Council finalized its pick for the next town manager this week, with assistant town manager Tai Williams now set to officially take the reins from outgoing Joe Calabrigo upon his retirement at the end of the month.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve Williams’ contract effective July 1 through June 2027. Her salary for the first year is set at $265,000, with her salary for the second year pending a performance review after the one-year mark. That’s less than Calabrigo’s most recently reported salary in 2023, which was $292,729 according to Transparent California, but more than Williams’ salary as assistant town manager, which was $219,366 in 2023.
“Tai will ensure a smooth transition from our current Town Manager to her new role. Her experience as the assistant town manager will help maintain continuity in leadership and services for the community,” said Mayor Renee Morgan in a press release Wednesday. “Joe’s succession planning, combined with Tai Williams expertise and dedication to our community, will facilitate a smooth transition between two exceptional civic leaders.”
Calabrigo’s retirement and the search for his successor have marked a bittersweet time for the Town Council and staff, with Calabrigo departing amid widespread accolades as he heads toward his 32nd anniversary in the position – making him currently the longest-tenured Tri-Valley city manager by far – and preparing to shift priorities as he retires from a four-decade long career with the town.
“It is actually bittersweet because we are losing someone that has been around for as long of us have been around and has guided this town with amazing abilities, and the guy that we’ve looked to in a leadership position has always been Joe Calabrigo,” Councilmember Robert Storer said at the June 3 council meeting.
“To say goodbye is going to be extremely difficult,” Storer added. “And then I look at how fortunate and grateful I am to see the quality of Tai Williams following right behind Joe, and from a council’s perspective, we couldn’t ask for more. We didn’t have to go out into the world and look for candidates – we just looked down the hallway at the office next to Joe’s.”
A longtime Danville resident, Williams began her tenure with the town as a land-use planner in 1996 before working at other agencies for a period of time, then returning to the Danville town staff in 2001, where she has held executive roles in transportation, economic development, and administrative services prior to being appointed as assistant town manager in 2017.
Since then, Williams has led the way in implementing enterprise technology to streamline the town’s online permitting process, launching the monthly Town Talks series, and securing more than $100 million in transportation funding for the TRAFFIX school bus program and the I-680 Auxiliary Lanes project, according to the town’s press release Wednesday.
According to comments from the council upon Williams’ appointment, she has long been eyed as Calabrigo’s successor.
“When Joe told us as a council like any great leader he said ‘at some point, I’m going to eventually retire’ – we didn’t know when – but he said ‘I found somebody that we’re going to spend the next couple of years to help develop that person,’ and that was Tai Williams,” Vice Mayor Newell Arnerich said.
“It’s been just a wonderful relationship, and I know we all have similar relationships with Tai, but Joe really made a point to make sure that the choice was going to be easy for us,” he continued. “Danville is a unique place – we have unique assets, we don’t compete in the marketplace in the same way as other communities, but what nobody competes with us on is the quality of our staff, the relationship they have with each other, the council, and particularly their dedication to our community.”
Community members are invited to send off Calabrigo at his final council meeting as town manager June 17, and to meet Williams ahead of the official start of her time in the position.
