City Manager

Gary Mekjian became City Manager on March 8, 2021. He joined the City in 2010 as the Director of Public Services and was promoted to Assistant City Manager in 2016. He previously worked as the Director of Public Works and Engineering for the City of Southfield, Director of Public Services and Engineering for the City of Lincoln Park, and Director of Engineering for the Charter Township of West Bloomfield.
 
He is a Registered Professional Engineer with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University, a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Wayne State University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University. He has also served as an Adjunct Instructor at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield.
 
Gary is a member of the Michigan Municipal League, International City/County Management Association, American Public Works Association, and Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council. He also belongs to the Optimist Club, Farmington Area Interfaith Association, Farmington/Farmington Hills Multicultural Multiracial Community Council, Xemplar Club, and the Resource, Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County.
 
Contact Gary Mekjian at (248) 871-2510 or via email.

Joseph A. Valentine joined the City of Farmington Hills as Assistant City Manager on May 3, 2021. He previously worked as the City Manager in Birmingham, a position he held for six years. Prior to that, he was Birmingham’s Assistant City Manager, Human Resources Director, Management Specialist, Interim Executive Director of the Birmingham Principal Shopping District, and Management Intern. He brings 24 years of experience in municipal operations management and has a proven track record of effectively addressing community needs and concerns.
 
Joseph A. Valentine has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Affairs, both from Wayne State University. He holds certifications from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is a certified Reserve Police Officer.
 
He is a member of several professional organizations including the International City/County Management Association, Michigan Municipal Executives, and the Michigan Municipal League. He serves on the Board of Directors for several public and non-profit organizations in Oakland County.
 
Contact Joseph at (248) 871-2502 or via email.

Vickie is a marketing and communications expert based in the Detroit metropolitan area. She has led marketing, communications, executive writing and public relations strategies for municipalities, health care, small businesses, nonprofit and for-profit corporations. Her career spans more than 20 years, most recently as head of marketing and communications for the City of Detroit Health Department where she launched an impactful communication strategy for the Health Department’s critical role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. During the early months of the public health crisis, Vickie deployed a successful marketing and media campaign promoting the wearing of masks and social distancing, which led to the City’s success in curving spread of the virus and garnered national media attention.

Prior to her role at the City of Detroit, Vickie served as director of public relations at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, where she directed corporate, public, and advocacy communication strategies to further elevate the brand’s market positioning. Results of her efforts led to an expansion of the organization’s donor base in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties to support tri-county individuals and families in need.

Vickie has garnered television experience at CBS affiliate WNEV in Boston, MA where she worked as a broadcast news writer and field producer. In Detroit, Vickie was a news writer and lead producer for CBS affiliate WKBD TV-50 for the station’s live-audience community affairs program. Vickie has also served as writer and editor for a Detroit community newspaper, The Pipeline.

Vickie is a proud HBCU graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communications management. She has served as vice president of membership for the Association of Women in Communications Detroit Chapter, and board member for the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Vickie is also passionate about mentoring youth toward cultivating the next generation of communication experts. 

Vickie lives with her husband Terrance and their toy poodle Maximus, and she is proud stepmom to two young adults.

LaToya Harvey is a long-time Farmington Hills resident and has had a career in child welfare for over 25 years. Most recently since 2021, LaToya was the Chief Advancement Officer for Orchards Children’s Services in Southfield, MI where she was the executive lead for the agency’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. For 3 ½ years, LaToya was the Child Welfare Division Director for Child and Family Charities in Lansing, MI. In those roles LaToya was responsible for the development, implementation, focus group outreach, and strategic planning of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) related policies, procedures and initiatives. Prior to those roles, LaToya spent 15 years at the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS), working as a Children’s Protective Services Supervisor and a Foster Care Supervisor. Overall, LaToya has garnered experience in DEI, foster care, Child Protective Services, adoption, government payments assistance, in-home prevention services, residential services and training development and facilitation. 
 
In 2018, in partnership with the Wayne State University Social Work Department, LaToya co-facilitated the presentation "Wayne Together Collaborative: Risks, Rewards & Lessons of High Impact Child Welfare Education and Training Practices” at the National Child Welfare Workforce Initiative national conference in Chicago, IL. In 2019, LaToya became a member of the Eastern Michigan University Social Work Alumni Association and was the President of the Association. In 2020, she was the keynote speaker for EMU’s MSW graduate students’ commencement celebration. LaToya is a part-time lecturer at Eastern Michigan University and teaches social work-related classes, such as Social Work Practice with People of Color.
 
LaToya received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in LaCrosse, WI and her Master of Social Work from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI. She completed her Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certification from Cornell University. LaToya is a Licensed Master Social Worker for the State of Michigan. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the National Association of Black Social Workers.
 
LaToya has been married to her husband Robert for over 20 years and they share three sons. She enjoys traveling, scrapbooking, reading, and shopping.