Grover Beach City Manager Bob Perrault will step down at the beginning of March, ending a 41-year career in city management. He attended his last council meeting last week—a final hoorah before he steps into retirement to spend more time with his family.
Perrault has served as Grover Beach’s top administrator since 2006, having previously worked for the City of Colfax. He’s been credited with steering Grover Beach through the recession of 2008, which forced the city to cut services and develop creative ideas to spur economic growth. Under his leadership, voters also approved Measure K-14 which authorized the sale of up to $48 million in general obligation bonds for the city’s street-repair program.
“Probably in my mind, that was the single biggest major economic development project because as streets are repaired, individual property values will go up and I think the quality of life overall will improve,” Perrault said.
Perrault expects Grover Beach to see tremendous growth over the next few years, but it’s an experience he won’t be a part of.
“Forty years sneaks up on you. One minute you’re 20 years in, in the middle of it all, and you don’t think it’s going to end. Then you get here.”
Perrault’s decision was spurred in part by a horseback riding accident he had in June of last year. That incident made him realize it was time to travel and spend time with his family while he was still in the physical shape to do so.
Former Police Chief Jim Copsey will take over Perrault’s duties on an interim basis until the city can secure a permanent replacement.
Read more about Bob Perrault’s retirement announcement here.
Image Credit: Flickr User wm_archiv, https://flic.kr/p/bzAoaL via (CC BY 2.0)