The city of Farmington Hills promoted Karen Mondora to the position of assistant city manager effective Nov. 27, making her the first woman to serve in that role for the city.
For the past seven years, Mondora has served as the city’s director of public services. The city’s administration is a women-led majority with women now holding 10 of 14 leadership positions.
“Karen has been an exceptional asset to the city since she started over eleven years ago in the Department of Public Services,” says Gary Mekjian, city manager of Farmington Hills. “Time and time again, Karen has demonstrated her strong commitment to our community and residents, and I’m sure she will embody the same dedication as assistant city manager.”
Mondora has worked for Farmington Hills since February 2012 and has served as the city’s director of public services since June 2016. As director of public services, she led a team of more than 60 full-time employees across the divisions of engineering, public works and building maintenance, and managed the department’s annual budget and capital improvements projects. Senior engineer Tammy Gushard will manage the duties of the director of public services on an interim basis until the position is filled permanently.
Most recently, she was part of the team spearheading the Farmington Area Fiber City project, a fiber internet infrastructure that will bring some of the world’s fastest internet to residents and businesses in the City of Farmington Hills.
“It’s an immense honor to serve the City of Farmington Hills as assistant city manager, and to be the first woman in this position is historical,” says Mondora. “I am eager to work closely with our city council, city manager and employees across the city to advance our city’s goals and ensure that the city of Farmington Hills remains one of the largest and most diverse cities in Oakland County for many generations to come.”
Prior to joining the Farmington Hills administration, Mondora held positions in both the public and private sector, specializing in storm water management and municipal engineering. She is a graduate of Michigan Technological University in Houghton County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where she studied environmental engineering.
She is also a licensed professional engineer in the state of Michigan and is certified in emergency management through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She currently represents the Michigan chapter of APWA as a national delegate. Previously served as the national diversity chair for the APWA and as the Project of the Year awards chair for the Michigan chapter.
Mondora lives in Bloomfield Township with her husband, Brad. They have two college-aged sons, Evan and Jack.
