Danny Santana is a native Angelino that began his career with the City of Torrance in 2001. Over the course of 24 years, Danny progressed through the Community Development Department from Planning Intern to Community Development Director in 2019. As Director, he promoted collaboration across technical specialties in order to advance a safe, accessible and sustainable built environment. Now as Assistant City Manager, he supports the City Manager and Los Angeles County’s 3rd largest economy in City Operations, managing the City’s real estate portfolio, Legislative Affairs and the Offices of Emergency Services and Economic Development.
Through his career in Development Services and City Management, he has been recognized for his ability to develop and implement a broad array of community and strategic initiatives, advancing layered public benefit projects and promoting a culture for team members to correlate the importance of their work in the public service they are providing. He believes deeply that local government is ‘where the rubber meets the road’ in terms of meeting our resident and business communities where they are.
Danny received a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Urban Studies and Political Science, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Cal State University Dominguez Hills, a Certificate in Green Building and Environmental Design from Cal State University Fullerton. He also previously served as an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Planning and Policy at LMU.