San Diego promotes longtime employee to top finance job amid budget crisis

San Diego will have a new chief financial officer leading city efforts to cope with a significant budget crisis that has prompted cuts to library hours and a wide variety of new fees for parking and city services.

Rolando Charvel, a San Diego State graduate who joined the city’s finance team in 1999, is being promoted from finance director to the city’s top finance job by Mayor Todd Gloria.

Charvel was chosen based on his track record of driving innovation, improving transparency and delivering results, said Gloria, whose selection of Charvel requires City Council confirmation.

“Rolando has demonstrated exceptional financial stewardship, a deep commitment to public service, and the strategic leadership we need to guide San Diego’s fiscal future,” Gloria said in a news release.

Charvel will replace longtime CFO Matt Vespi, who left the city last month to become the Port of San Diego’s new chief administrative officer.

“Matt Vespi has been an outstanding steward of the city’s finances through some of our most challenging times — I’m grateful for his leadership and steady hand,” Gloria said last month.

As CFO, Charvel will lead the city’s financial strategy and oversee budgeting, accounting, risk management and debt financing. He will also serve as the mayor’s principal adviser on financial policy and long-term fiscal planning.

The city has a $6 billion annual budget, including a $2 billion general fund. It has 13,000 employees.

“Fiscal responsibility is the foundation of public trust, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to strengthen transparency, modernize systems and ensure the city’s long-term financial health,” Charvel said in a news release.

Among his first key tasks will be the city’s five-year financial outlook, a broad look at projected revenues and expenditures the city puts together each fall.

Charvel’s annual salary as CFO will be the same as Vespi’s, which was $316,000 in 2024.