Local news and official references consistently describe Robert Perez (the current manager) as the fifth city manager hired on more than an interim basis.
Here is the complete list with their tenures (based on news reports of hiring, start dates, resignations, and terminations):
- Norton Bonaparte (first permanent city manager)
- Started: March 2006 (selected by council in January 2006)
- Ended: July 1, 2011 (departed under a severance agreement amid controversy)
- Tenure: ~5 years and 4 months.
- Jim Colson
- Started: August 27, 2012
- Ended: October 7, 2016 (resigned voluntarily)
- Tenure: ~4 years and 1 month.
- Brent Trout
- Started: October 30, 2017
- Ended: December 31, 2021 (resigned)
- Tenure: ~4 years and 2 months.
- Stephen Wade
- Started: September 14, 2022
- Ended: July 11, 2023 (fired by 10-0 council vote after an investigation; he had been on leave since June 6)
- Tenure: ~10 months.
- Robert Perez (current)
- Started: Late June/early July 2024 (contract approved May 2024; he relocated from assistant city manager role in Dallas)
- Ongoing: As of March 2026
- Tenure: ~1 year and 8+ months so far (one-year initial contract with $255,000 base salary).
Interim/acting city managers (not counted in the permanent total of 5) served during searches or transitions, including:
- Neil Dobler and Dan Stanley (post-Bonaparte era)
- Doug Gerber (post-Colson and post-Trout)
- Richard Nienstedt (post-Wade, 2023–2024)
No official comprehensive list exists on the City of Topeka website (topeka.gov), but this sequence is corroborated across Capital-Journal (cjonline.com), WIBW, KSNT, and other local reporting with no additional permanent hires identified. The position reports to the mayor and council. Current mayor is Spencer Duncan (as of 2026).
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