Steve Szalay

Mr. Szalay has over 40 years of experience working in chief administrator level positions in counties including Sacramento, Alameda, Tuolumne, and Kings.  In addition, he held Executive Director positions with the California State Sheriffs’ Association and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) for over 13 years.  His career began as Assistant City Manager with the City of Hanford. 

Szalay was the Interim County Executive of Sacramento County where he managed a budget of $2.0 billion.  Specific responsibilities included budget planning, preparation and implementation, finance and debt management, labor relations, economic development, all county programs/services, interdepartmental and intergovernmental relations.  His 21-month tenure included many notable transformative projects. 

As Executive Director for CSAC he led the development and promotion of a statewide ballot initiative measure, Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act, that was approved with an 86% yes vote on the November 2004 State General Election ballot to protect local government revenue and strengthen state mandate provision of the Constitution.

Most recently, he served as a Special Consultant at the California Department of Finance where he oversaw the dissolution of the redevelopment agencies and the associated administrative processes, affordable housing activities, repayment of loans from communities, use of existing bond proceeds, and the disposition of retention of former redevelopment assets.  Since 2008 he has also worked as a mediator and facilitator for the Center for Collaborative Policy at CSU Sacramento.

His volunteer experiences include providing over 1,500 hours as a docent for the California State Railroad Museum, operated by California State Parks.