We have a new City Manager!

Denzel Maxwell (Courtesy Photo/Lake Oswego)

The LO Review announced that Denzel Maxwell has been hired as Lake Oswego's new City Manager. His tenure will start on Oct. 5.

Checking his LinkedIn bio, I learned:

• Maxwell is currently the assistant city manager for the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, where he’s worked since March 2023.

  • Big change: Fort Collins, Colorado is significantly larger than Lake Oswego in both population and geographic land area. Fort Collins population is around ~171,700 vs. LO's 40,400. Fort Collins functions as a major standalone college town and regional hub, while LO is primarily a suburban town.

• Before that he was the assistant to the city manager of Corona, California in Riverside County.

• Prior work experience in San Antonio and Houston, Texas as well.

• B.S. in Economics from Oklahoma State University (another OSU than the Beavers)

• Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech University.

• He and I have a shared connection, Lynn Peterson (our Interim City Manager). She's the best mentor for this job he could have!

We hope that our new City Manager will:

Continue the collaborative approach that Lynn Peterson has demonstrated working with our neighborhood.

And that he'll implement her "Good Neighbor Policy"

• https://www.oldtownlakeoswego.org/post/interim-city-manager-lynn-peterson-s-collaborative-approach-working-with-neighborhoods-in-lo

He'll lead the City staff to continuously improve and work less in silos and more as an integrated team.

He'll come for a walk about in our Old Town neighborhood to learn about our history working with the City and our problems and priorities.

https://www.oldtownlakeoswego.org/post/how-can-we-work-together-to-balance-public-access-and-neighborhood-livability-at-george-rogers-park

And that he'll love living in LO as much we all do. Welcome City Manager Maxwell.

Read more: LO Review Story

Adding this history about who our LO City Managers have been in the past 20 years

Lake Oswego City Managers — approximately 2006–2026

Years	City Manager	Notes
1992–Sept. 2007	Douglas J. Schmitz	City Manager for about 15 years. Left Lake Oswego in September 2007 to become City Manager of Los Altos, California.
Sept. 2007–Mar. 2008	Stephan A. Lashbrook — Interim	Community Development Director who served as interim after Schmitz's departure.
Mar. 2008–Feb. 2012	Alex McIntyre	Hired March 3, 2008; left February 22, 2012, to become City Manager of Menlo Park, CA.
Mar.–June 2012	David Donaldson — Interim	Assistant City Manager who served as interim for 10 months, according to the City's 2013 annual report.
Jan.–Aug. 2013	Tom Coffee — Interim	Served as interim City Manager beginning January 2013 while the City conducted its national search.
Aug. 2013–June 2019	Scott Lazenby	Began August 5, 2013; retired at the end of June 2019.
Aug. 2019–Mar. 2026	Martha Bennett	Began August 19, 2019. She served nearly seven years.
Mar.–Oct. 5, 2026	Lynn Peterson — City Manager Pro Tem	Currently serving as City Manager Pro Tem following Bennett's departure. The City's current page identifies Peterson in that role.
Oct. 5, 2026–	Denzel Maxwell	The City Council unanimously appointed him on September 1, 2026; his term begins October 5.