Davis officially welcomed its first Black city manager this week as Daryel Dunston took office Sept. 15 and participated in his first City Council meeting Tuesday night.

“It goes without saying that there aren’t a lot of city managers that look like me,” Dunston told The OSBERVER. “To have that opportunity, it means the world.”

He hopes his presence in this key role shows younger generations that there is a place for them in local government. “I was trained to pay it forward. And so I absolutely hope that I’m an example to somebody that looks like me that aspires to work in local government,.” he said. “And if I could help that, I won’t hesitate.”

Davis is home to about 67,000 people, less than 3% of them Black. The job pays $280,051 a year.

Mayor Bapu Vaitla said in a press release th

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