Andrew Carter, Guadalupe’s city administrator, is leaving the job.
Carter, 59, told the Sun that he’ll tentatively depart on July 1, or when the city begins its budget cycle for the next fiscal year, although he could be there as long as Sept. 1.
Hired in February 2013, Carter managed the city through its budget crisis in 2014. Before that he was a councilmember for the San Luis Obispo City Council.
In a previous interview, Carter told the Sun that he discovered discrepancies during the budgeting process. Despite that, the 2014-2015 budget was passed with a $335,000 deficit.
However, that prompted the City Council to pass resolutions to get three tax measures—which Carter estimated would bring in about $350,000 worth of revenue to the city—placed on the November 2014 ballot.
The voters ultimately approved the measures, staving off bankruptcy for the city.
Carter described the job of city administrator as “extremely demanding.”
“That’s simply a function of the financial situation,” Carter told the Sun. “As a city manager in a city like Guadalupe, you have to be the jack-of-all-trades. We don’t have much professional staff.”
While working as city administrator, some of Carter’s duties included IT manager, solid waste manager, and community development manager, among others.
Carter is moving to Hanford, which is in the Central Valley. He hasn’t yet found a job, although he’s currently searching for public-sector employment.
He describes the move as a “change-of-life decision, not a change of position.”
“I’m going to miss it,” Carter said. “Even more, I’m going to miss San Luis Obispo where I’ve lived for 20 years.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make a life change and put your personal life ahead of you.”
This article appears in May 12-19, 2016.