Amador County – Acting City Manager Sean Rabe officially took over for his long-time friend and mentor, succeeding to the position of City Manager of Sutter Creek.
Mayor Gary Wooten announced the appointment Monday, saying the Sutter Creek City Council had evaluated Rabe’s job performance in closed session earlier Monday.
Wooten said: “I’m proud to announce” Sean Rabe “has been appointed our city manager effective today.”
All five city council members stood to applaud Rabe after the announcement. Wooten said: “For those of you who did not know, Sean interviewed for the county (chief administrative officer) position.” Wooten said: “I went to church and prayed he wouldn’t get it.”
The mayor said he had tough shoes to fill, taking over for former City Manager and Police Chief Rob Duke, but Rabe successfully did so three months ago as acting city manager.
Duke is a long-time friend and mentor of Rabe, who grew up in Sutter Creek, and covered the city council as a newspaper reporter.
Rabe said he was happy to be with the city, and ready to face upcoming challenges. He said he was glad the CAO position at the county didn’t work out.
Planning Commissioner Mike Kirkley in public comment said “it has been a breath of fresh air working with Sean,” whom he said brings more transparency to city hall than he felt with Duke.
Kirkley said the only drawback he felt was that Rabe recently bought a house in West Sacramento.
Also Monday, the city council OK’d a request for proposals for public works services in the city. Staff must clarify what “prevailing wages” are in the RFPs.
City Attorney Derek Cole said “any public work as defined under state law must pay prevailing wage,” as determined by the California director of industrial relations, by area throughout the state.
Councilman Pat Crosby said it meant basically paying San Francisco wages in Sutter Creek. Vice Mayor Tim Murphy also asked Rabe to ensure the RFPs included a statement that the city could accept or reject all or part of proposals it receives.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
