CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council has concluded the process to select a new city manager, whose employment contract will be on the council's agenda next week for final approval.
Greg Folsom has been chosen to succeed City Manager Joan Phillipe, who is retiring June 30.
Folsom will bring to Clearlake 20 years of senior local government experience in planning, economic development and project implementation, the city of Clearlake reported.
Clearlake officials reported that Folsom has worked with economic development corporations, collaborated with visitor bureaus and winegrower associations on tourism promotion, successfully attracted retail shopping developers, developed facade improvement and downtown financial incentive programs, and managed redevelopment projects.
“All of this experience falls right into what the city is currently working on and will enable us to continue moving forward with the momentum that we have worked on building over the last few years,” said Clearlake Mayor Denise Loustalot.
Since February 2014, Folsom has been deputy director of economic development for Riverside County and in January was appointed as a planning commissioner for the city of Menifee, according to a statement from that city.
He also previously worked as an enterprise zone tax credit specialist and spent 18 years with the city of Stockton, where he was deputy director of economic development.
With Folsom's extensive economic development experience in the city of Stockton and Riverside County, the city of Clearlake is looking forward to active business recruitment, Loustalot said.
Folsom holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance with a minor in economics from San Jose State University, and a master's of business administration degree in finance from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
Folsom and his wife plan to relocate to Clearlake, where he will begin work on June 15.
Phillipe, who has been with the city since October 2011, submitted a Jan. 15 letter informing the council of her plans to retire, with the city beginning the recruitment for her successor nor long afterward, as Lake County News has reported.
Phillipe's report to the council for its May 28 meeting explained that the city received 28 applications for her job. Those applications were given a thorough review by an ad hoc committee composed of Phillipe, Loustalot, Councilman Russ Perdock, Clearlake Planning Commission Chair Carl Webb and Supervisor Jeff Smith.
Of the 28 initial applicants, Phillipe said six were chosen for interview. Preliminary background checks were completed on those six individuals, five were selected for interview and one person withdrew from consideration.
A second panel – who Phillipe said was made up of Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen, City Clerk Melissa Swanson and Public Works Director Doug Herren, along with Smith, Webb, Sheriff Brian Martin and retired County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox – interviewed the four final applicants, recommending the person who they felt to be most qualified.
“Following a thorough background check, the Council determined that Greg Folsom was the person to be the city's next city manager,” Phillipe said in her report.
Phillipe's report noted that Folsom's experience in economic development – which is one of the city's four priorities – was one of the key qualifications in selecting Clearlake's new city manager.
If approved by the council, Folsom's proposed contract will go into effect on June 15, providing a three-week transition period in which he can work with Phillipe, according to her report.
The contract calls for compensation totaling $110,000 a year plus benefits, which Phillipe said is budgeted in the 2015-16 fiscal year; a three-year contract term; and an annual performance review.
She said Folsom is scheduled to be at the May 28 council meeting to introduce himself.
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Clearlake City Council to consider approving contract with new city manager candidate
- Elizabeth Larson
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