New IT Director, Interim Fire Chief Named In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — The City of Manhattan Beach is pleased to announce the appointment of Terry Hackelman as the city’s next Information Technology Director and Wolfgang Knabe as Interim Fire Chief.

Hackelman was the founder and managing principal of NexLevel and has worked as a senior vice president for SDI Presence LLC after it acquired NexLevel two years ago. At NexLevel and SDI, Hackelman worked with over 100 cities on their IT planning, governance, assessments, project and contract management, service delivery, system implementation, as well as other IT needs, for the past 20+ years.

Knabe will begin serving as interim fire chief on July 20th. He has 40 years in the fire fervice, including close to 20 years in the rank of fire chief. He retired from the City of Fullerton as fire chief for the Brea-Fullerton Fire Department in 2018. Previously, Knabe worked for the San Luis City Fire Department and Los Angeles Fire Department. Following his retirement, he most recently served as interim operations chief for the City of Santa Monica.

“In these very uncertain times, our city needs experienced leaders to navigate the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to provide outstanding municipal services. I have confidence that Wolfgang Knabe and Terry Hackelman are up for the challenge and will provide the high level of service our community expects,” said City Manager Bruce Moe.