Elaine Polachek

Interim City Manager

Polachek first joined the city of Santa Monica in 2000 as open space manager. She then served as director of the Department of Community Maintenance, deputy city manager, interim city manager and then assistant city manager/chief operating officer. After leaving the city, she was interim executive vice president at Santa Monica College for two years before starting her own government, community and legislative affairs consulting firm, Kings Road Consulting, in 2020.

Before coming to the city, Polachek spent 10 years as the operations manager for the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation and served as executive director of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and vice president of marketing for the Pacific Design Center.

She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Los Angeles and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California.