CLEARLAKE — The City of Clearlake will soon be looking for a new city administrator and chief of police. City Administrator Dale Neiman and Police Chief Allan McClain announced their intentions to leave the service of the city on Thursday.
Neiman is resigning while McClain announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year.
“I am not willing to work for the two newly elected council people and I think that they would prefer that I”m gone, too,” Neiman said. “With the Lowe”s project not viable anymore, it makes sense for the city financially to find someone else.”
Neiman said since the council”s first order of business will be finding a replacement to fill the duties of the city administrator as well as for the other duties he served, including that of the development and Redevelopment Agency directors and for the police chief, his final day of service will be next Wednesday.
“I think it”s best that I not be here when that is going on,” Neiman said. “I don”t think that I should be involved in that process in any way, shape or form.”
Neiman said that he plans to provide the council with status reports on all the ongoing projects the city is currently working on in order to make the transition easier for the new city administrator.
Neiman said he said he enjoyed his service to the city. “I”ve enjoyed my tenure here and I wish the city the best in the future. Clearlake is a great place and has a lot of potential,” he said, adding commendations for the current city council, city staff and the police department staff.
Neiman said he will be returning to Humboldt and at this point is unsure as to whether or not he will re-enter the workforce.
McClain said he”s looking forward to retirement after 29 years of law enforcement including three and a half spent in Clearlake. His final day of service will be Dec. 30. He said he is retiring for personal reasons.
While McClain said that he enjoyed his service to the city, financial restrictions have made his job difficult. “I enjoyed my time here. I really like the people who I worked with and it”s a beautiful area,” he said. “I wish we would have had the financial resources to do the things we had planned to do.”
McClain said the budget restraints and staff reductions have been the most difficult aspects to deal with, especially when the impacts affect the people he cares about. “It”s been a difficult three and a half years trying to run a department and meet the community”s needs with the limited resources we had,” he said. “I”d like people to know that I”m extremely proud of the employees at the police department and on the city staff for the amazing job that they have been able to do in meeting the needs of our community during fiscal crisis.”
McClain said he hasn”t any specific plans for retirement but that he doesn”t plan to seek employment. He will be figuring it out in Hawaii, he said.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
