Gary Keefe, who rose through the ranks and has served as Lompoc's city administrator for six years, has announced that he will retire at the end of the year.

After a closed-door session Tuesday with Keefe and the City Council, Mayor Dick DeWees, told the audience that Keefe's resignation was accepted “with great regret.”

“He's been a go-to person, personally, in getting through my first few years up here,” Councilwoman Ann Ruhge said.

Keefe and the council have been embroiled in recent months in a struggle to find funding for public safety. Their efforts led to the failure in February of a proposed half-cent sales tax increase, but Keefe said the city's problems did not contribute to his decision to retire.

“When I accepted the (city administrator) position in 2002 I told the City Council I could commit to six to seven years,” Keefe said.

Now 60, Keefe said the time had come to retire, to work on his beloved classic 1959 Mercedes 180 sedan, fish and catch up on yard work.

Keefe, who will officially step down Dec. 30, began his career with the city in 1976, working as a wastewater treatment plant operator.

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“Figured I'd be here for a couple years,” he said Wednesday.

The Cuesta College and Cal Poly graduate had other opportunities, but always felt staying in Lompoc was the better choice. He ended up staying, and moved up the ranks.

Keefe replaced Frank Priore as the city administrator, moving up from his position as city utilities superintendent.

He said his background in wastewater and utilities prepared him for the top administrative job.

“I think it helped. I always felt I had a significant advantage over my counterparts, due to my field experience,” Keefe said.

He said he will leave the post with some reluctance.

“I'm going to miss working with these people,” he said, describing his staff and City Council as dedicated and hard working.

In the same closed-door meeting in which Keefe's resignation was accepted, the council unanimously appointed Assistant City Administrator Laurel Barcelona to replace him.

“I'm very honored that the council selected me,” Barcelona said Wednesday.

Barcelona, 51, has worked in City Hall for 15 years. She was appointed as the Assistant City Administrator in 2005. She completed her MBA in 2002 through the University of La Verne at Vandenberg Air Force Base, while still working full-time in city administration.

Barcelona is married, with four adult children, two grandchildren, “and one more on the way.”

City Attorney Sharon Stewart also made her retirement public. Stewart has served over 10 years as city attorney, and six years as deputy attorney before that. She plans to step down Oct. 31.

Assistant City Attorney Matt Granger was unanimously accepted by the council as her replacement.

Keefe said the choice of Barcelona was a good one, since she was familiar with the departments, and would not struggle with the learning curve of educating an outside hire.

“The council has provided for a fairly seamless transition,” he said.

Both Keefe and Barcelona listed funding for public safety, and balancing the 2009-2011 budget would be the foremost challenges to the new city administrator.

Barcelona said she respected the “competent organization by Gary Keefe and his predecessor,” as she began contemplating taking hold of the reigns in six months.

The council apparently never considered the possibility of searching outside the city for a replace.

City Councilman DeWayne Holmdahl approved of promoting from within the city staff.

“It saves us time and it saves us money,” Holmdahl said.

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 737-1059 or gwallace@lompocrecord.com

June 5, 2008