Goleta City Manager Michelle Greene has been working remotely from Vermont for months, and will continue until June 30, when she plans to retire after 18 years with the city.
Noozhawk inquired about Greene’s status, and the city subsequently planned to put out a press release that spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said she had already been writing.
Greene earns $267,000 annually in the job she has held since 2014. She previously served as deputy city manager, administrative services manager and a management analyst.
Greene, who is also the director of Goleta’s Emergency Services, has been working from Vermont since October, a move that originally was supposed to be temporary.
The City Council approved her working arrangement in a closed session vote that was not unanimous.
Family responsibilities require Greene to work remotely as she finishes out her tenure as city manager, Hoover said.
“All travel and other expenses related to her remote work are her own responsibility,” Hoover said.
“It has been an incredible honor and privilege to serve the Goleta community for the last 18 years, particularly during the last eight years in the role of city manager,” Greene said in a statement. “It is with great sadness that I must now look to ending the successful partnership with the City Council, as a need to support elderly family in Vermont requires that I relocate for an indefinite period of time.”
She will transition to serving as a special adviser to support the city during a nationwide recruitment for a new city manager. The transition period also will allow Greene to continue to work on various projects that are in progress, Hoover said in a statement.
Green continued: “My heart will always be in Goleta. It is an incredibly special place, with an amazing city staff that it has been an honor to work alongside, so I know that I will leave the city in very good hands when the time comes. I wish the Goleta community all the best as the city enters the next phase of its evolution.”
In Hoover’s statement, she credited Greene with more than a dozen accomplishments during her time:
“Building an effective and innovative organization, including creating new departments, hiring stellar staff and cultivating a positive organizational culture that reflects the values of the Goleta community”; “creating a municipal library and taking on direct management of the Goleta, Solvang and Buellton libraries”; and “establishing a robust sustainability program that reaches across several city departments and addresses climate change, recycling and reuse, efficient, clean and renewable energy in city facilities, streetlights, vehicles and in the community.”
“The City Council feels so fortunate to have Michelle at the helm of this organization, and we are sorry to see her go, both professionally and personally,” Mayor Paula Perotte said. “We are pleased, however, that she is willing to work with the city to transition to new management in a way that works best for the council, the organization and the community.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
