By Jim Shilander
After 22 years with the city, City Manger Pall Gudgeirsson was honored by the City Council Tuesday in celebration of his last meeting while in office. Gudgeirsson will retire formally on Friday.
Mayor Tim Brown credited Gudgeirsson , who spent most of his tenure with the city as assistant city manager and was elected city treasurer five times, with shepherding San Clemente through financial difficulties with good management, including the establishment of long-term financial planning program. Gudgeirsson stayed on as city manager following the February 2013 retirement of George Scarborough, in part to allow a number of major milestones, such as the start of construction of the Outlets at San Clemente project, with an experienced hand.
Gudgeirsson credited any success he’d had in office to the city’s employees, who he called “fantastic,” as well as to the councils and city managers he served under.
In his parting words, Gudgeirsson encouraged the city to continue to listen and be responsive to citizen concerns, do what it could to keep its AAA bond rating and remember “the ka-ching,” a reference to Gudgeirsson’s financial planning axiom about not counting money until it was in the city’s coffers.
Gudgeirsson will be splitting his time in retirement between San Clemente and Seattle. His replacement, James Makshanoff, takes over Monday, Sept. 29.
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