In a time of division, El Dorado Hills’ new general manager aims to build trust
Stephanie McGann Jantzen’s path to the public sector began with a childhood shaped by California politics. As the daughter of Terry McGann — a lobbyist who worked on former Gov. Pat Brown’s campaign — she had an early, front-row view of policymaking.
Through her father’s work, McGann Jantzen said, she saw how individuals with different political ideologies could collaborate. She recalls seeing politicians at a young age, including Republican state Sen. Kenneth Maddy and former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, a Democrat who also served as mayor of San Francisco.
Moved by how these figures carried themselves, McGann Jantzen developed an interest in governance, ultimately leading her to pursue her own career in the public sector. She started working for former Assemblymember Roger Niello and ultimately made her way to local government.
“We had Republicans and Democrats in my house, leaders in California, and I remember as a little girl realizing I was in very rarefied air,” she said. “I didn’t understand maybe why (it felt that way at the time), but these were the great thinkers in our region.”
Last month McGann Jantzen was appointed as the El Dorado Hills Community Service District’s general manager, a strictly nonpartisan staff position, where she said she takes on the task of building trust. McGann Jantzen, who was interim GM leading up to her permanent appointment, is taking the helm of an organization previously led by Kevin Anthony Loewen.
Loewen faces two felony counts of perjury as well as a single felony count of participating in a government contract while having a financial interest. His indictment this past fall also includes three misdemeanor counts of participating in a government decision while having a conflict of interest.
The former general manager — who served from 2017 to 2023 — is accused of steering the district, which serves about 55,000 people, to work with an organization he had ties to, according to previous Sacramento Bee reporting.
That unresolved case comes as McGann Jantzen said she believes tensions are increasing in local government, citing political division. She said this factors into the public sector’s employee experience. Once upon a time, she said, working in public service meant showing up to serve the entity’s board. Today, she said, she thinks the experience is making people question the career path.
“I’m not saying that doesn’t exist anymore, but the talent pool is now leaving local government … and they’re going to the private sector because of the threats and the harassment — the division,” McGann Jantzen said. “The volatility just starts to wear on you. It’s hard. I have experienced that and at this moment it’s actually making me double down.”
McGann Jantzen’s sentiment comes as more than 40% of officials from communities with more than 50,000 people report being affected by polarization, according to a 2024 study by the Carnegie Foundation of New York and Civic Pulse.
While McGann Jantzen said she hasn’t experienced forms of political extremism, such as stalking, she has been the subject of negative comments.
“I’ve received threats (like) ‘You’re going to be held accountable’ for xyz things that I had nothing to do with,” she said. “’We’re watching you,’ that kind of a thing. ‘You better not screw this up.’”
This brings her back to growing up around her father, whom she said worked with people of all different world views to come up with solutions.
“They (her father and his colleagues) certainly had different ideologies, they had different approaches to policy, they believed different things, but they respected each other and they laughed together,” she said.
Now, as McGann Jantzen settles into her new gig, she wants to bring these types of discussions to the community. One way is her program, “Shaping EDH,” which gives residents space to share ideas and ask questions about the community service district, saying its led to productive conversations.
“I just said I’m going to have this meeting and anyone can come,” she said. “You don’t have to send me questions in advance, come in and sit down, and let’s talk.”
Leaders across the country have taken a similar approach as McGann Jantzen, including Dave Kleis, the former mayor of St. Cloud, Minnesota, who held more than 1,000 town halls during his two decades in office. Kleis previously told the St. Cloud Times it helped identify solutions before frustrations built-up.
It also ties back to what McGann Jantzen’s father tried to teach his children when they were younger. He said he wanted his daughters to understand what role his work had in society and how listening to others was part of that.
“It’s important not to just be a talker. It’s okay to talk, but you want to be a really good listener,” he said. “You don’t want to tell incorrect things. You don’t want to exaggerate things, which means you’re really not telling the truth. That’s one thing I really held on to with my kids.”
By working to rebuild trust with the community, McGann Jantzen said she wants to create a good work environment for the community service district’s staff, which ranges from about 35 to 150 employees, so they can better serve the community.
“They worked for someone who is now on trial, and so there’s whiplash involved in who’s leading the organization and what they think is important,” she said. “I’m someone who sits down with everybody and says, I’m not your boss, I am your collaborator.
“It’s amazing what happens in local government when fear leaves, collaboration begins. People that work for me know they’re safe to come in and go, ‘I don’t think you’re making a good decision right now. Here’s why.’”
