Sixteen years after starting her public service career as an intern for Oakland government, Deanna J. Santana returned to City Hall as its new city administrator.

On Wednesday, Mayor Jean Quan formally introduced Santana as her selection for the position.

Santana, 40, is currently the deputy city manager of San Jose. She was confirmed unanimously by Oakland's City Council on Tuesday and will start as Oakland's administrator in August.

Santana received a Master's degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two Bachelor degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in Ethnic Studies and Rhetoric. She was also a recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in Public Policy and International Affairs at the Goldman School of Public Policy.

"We were very fortunate in getting someone who knows the East Bay, who has roots, (and) who knows California," Quan said. "She's smart, she's bright, she's energetic and yes, tough enough when she needs to be. We are looking forward to a future with her."

Quan said the city received about 100 applications for the job. Quan actually offered the position to someone else before selecting Santana, who is a protegee of current interim City Administrator P. Lamont Ewell.

Ewell hired Santana as an intern in 1995 when he served as Oakland's assistant city manager.

"She's very low key when she needs to be, but someone who will step up front and lead when she has to. (Santana) is ideal for this community," Ewelle said. "She is going to be the person who turns this city around and put it back on solid footing."

Vice Mayor Desley Brooks had nothing but praise for Santana.

"There's a saying about having the right woman at the right time in the place. Deanna Santana is exactly that," Brooks said.

Prior to her current position in San Jose, Santana served as the San Jose City manager’s chief of staff where, according to Quan's office, she was responsible for high‐level "daily operational support" to the city manager.

At the Wednesday event, Santana said she was heartened by the warm welcome from city staff. She said was a dream of hers to come back to help lead in Oakland.

"When I left I had a dream, and we've talked about it over the last 12 years, that one day I would come back and be city manager or city administrator and so that's why it's particularly special for me and significant for me at this time."

Santana said being hired as city administrator is like coming back home.

"It's a great opportunity to, the way I see it, come back home. I moved to Oakland when I was 17, I chose to live in Oakland while I was at Berkeley the entire time I was at Berkeley," she said. "When I graduated from grad school, my heart wanted to come back to Oakland."

For Quan, it's been a long search for her city administrator. Almost as soon as she was in office, she began a nationwide search for someone to fill the position.

"We were looking for someone with urban experience, who was used to working in a diverse community and who had hands on experience in running an urban city," Quan said.

With the budget coming up and no luck landing a permanent administrator, Quan reached out to Ewell to act as an interim to help advise and guide her office during the development of the tough budget proposals.

A panel of former city managers and administrators on Quan's transition team helped go through the resumes for the position.

"It was worth the wait and worth all of the work to get Deanna," Quan said.

Oakland has seen a series of city administrators come and go in the last few years. Prior to Ewell serving as interim city administrator, Dan Lindheim held the position. Lindheim was brought in by former Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums after Deborah Edgerly was fired.