Susan Stanton was the city manager of Largo, Florida, until her termination. She was city manager of Lake Worth, Florida, from 2009 until her termination in December 2011 by a newly elected City Commission. After serving as City Manager in Greenfield, California for four years, she served as Chief Operating Officer of Administrative Services of the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose, California until her resignation on November 30, 2017. On September 11, 2020, she was ordained to the Priesthood in the Episcopal Church by Bishop Lucinda Ashby in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
She grew up in the Catskill Mountains in New York. Stanton was married to Donna Becker and they have a son named Travis. Stanton became the subject of national and international media attention in February 2007 after disclosing that she is transgender and would be pursuing sex reassignment, leading Largo city commissioners to initiate the process of ending her contract as city manager, a decision which Stanton appealed.
Early life and education
Susan Stanton grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Her public school years were relatively uneventful. She later recalled being rejected as a drummer in the sixth grade band and, in ninth grade, being told by a coach that at 5 feet 9 she was too short to play on the basketball team. In high school she worked cleaning offices at night for 30 hours a week, and she was a typist for the yearbook, her only extracurricular activity. Stanton earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Career
Early in her career, Stanton held positions at various times as assistant to the city manager of Newburgh, New York; administrative assistant to the borough manager of Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska; and assistant to the city manager of Champaign, Illinois.
Berea, Kentucky
As city administrator in Berea, Kentucky, a position she held for about four years, Stanton took part in negotiations which brought four manufacturing companies to Berea, representing a total capital investment in the city of $120 million and annual payrolls of $10 million. The industries included Tokico Ltd., which planned to build a $20 million shock absorber and brake assembly plant that would employ 150 people, and Alcan Aluminum, which built a $50 million aluminum recycling plant. The Alcan plant became the largest used aluminum can recycling facility in the world. Stanton received an honorary award from Kentucky governor Wallace Wilkinson, who named Stanton a Kentucky Colonel.
Largo, Florida
Stanton was hired away from Berea to become assistant city manager in Largo, Florida in August 1990. Stanton worked under city manager Stephen Bonczek until April 20, 1993, when Bonczek resigned under pressure from city commissioners, who were unhappy with Bonczek's poor relationship with city workers and unions. At that point Stanton became interim city manager, and was formally hired as acting city manager in May 1993 (with a consequent rise in salary). City commissioners cited their confidence in Stanton, as well as the time and cost of recruiting a replacement for Bonczek, as their reason for hiring in-house. City Clerk Henry Schubert was reassigned at the same time to the post of assistant city manager. Both assignments were open-ended, with the commission delaying its decision on a permanent city manager until later that year. Stanton's posting was made permanent in September 1993, with an 18-month contract and another increase in salary.
In total, Stanton had a career spanning 17 years with the City of Largo and , had spent 14 years as city manager where she reportedly received good reviews for her performance. In September 2006, she was given an $11,000 annual pay raise, bringing her annual salary to over $140,000. She managed a $130-million budget and about 1,200 employees.
Stanton was on paid administrative leave while the City of Largo began the legal process of terminating her contract, pursuant to her confirmation on February 21, 2007, to the St. Petersburg Times that she was transgender and was in the process of pursuing sex reassignment.