One of Michelle Greene’s favorite moments as Goleta’s City Manager was the day they cut the ribbon at Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park. “The smiles on the faces of all of the children and their families made all of the work to bring the project to completion worthwhile,” she said of the park named for one of the city’s founders and a member of its first City Council. Greene is leaving the city after 18 years in the trenches in order to move to Vermont to help care for elderly family members, and she is mostly working remotely from the East Coast until her last day at the end of June.
Wallis Park was the first for the Old Town area in the city’s history — Goleta turned 20 years old this past February 1 — and along with the $3.9 million grant for the Ellwood butterfly habitat, creating the city’s own library, and getting the funding for the new train station, it is among the city’s achievements during Greene’s eight-year tenure as the city’s manager. Notable has been the growth of the city from a handful of employees, she said, to eight departments and close to 100 full-time employees. Her salary now tops $250,000. “City managers are expected to have all the answers — or at least know how to get the answers,” she said, “so it takes organization, careful planning and strategizing, constant communication, and a strong core team of professionals to help keep all of the balls in the air.”
Greene will remain as a special advisor for a time while the city searches nationwide for its next city manager.
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