- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Cremer selected to fill vacant Clearlake City Council seat
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – During its Thursday night meeting, the Clearlake City Council selected a fifth member to fill a seat left vacant earlier this year due to a resignation.
The council voted unanimously to appoint Russell Cremer, a local businessman known for his work with Rotary, fire recovery and his service on the Clearlake Planning Commission, to fill the seat, the term of which expires in November.
Cremer will succeed Russ Perdock, who on Feb. 1 announced that he was resigning before the end of his first term in order to pursue the city’s police chief job, as Lake County News has reported.
The appointment came at the end of a lengthy discussion in which Cremer just edged out Dirk Slooten, the city’s planning commission chair.
Last month, the council had decided to advertise to fill the vacancy, and City Clerk Melissa Swanson had reported receiving six applications by the March 15 deadline. In addition to Cremer and Slooten, applicants included Sheryl Almon, Jennifer Fitts, Cheryl Marinaro and James Reed.
An ad hoc committee that included Mayor Bruno Sabatier, Vice Mayor Phil Harris and Swanson had met Monday to review the applications. Normally, the planning commission chair would have been included but because Slooten had applied the makeup of the group was changed to add Swanson.
That committee had recommended that the council interview Marinaro, a Realtor, and Slooten and consider one of them for appointment, as Lake County News has reported.
With the exception of Marinaro, all of the applicants would appear before the council Thursday night.
Slooten, a retired business owner, was born in the Netherlands and earned his bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam before immigrating to the United States in 1972, settling in the Bay Area. In 1994 he started Slooten Consulting Inc., a land surveying business. He and his wife, Karen, moved to Lake County full-time in 2013.
He also was a member of the Measure V committee and the steering committee for the city’s zoning update, and before moving to Lake County chaired the Yolo County Airport Commission for four years.
Slooten is president of the Rotary Club of Clear Lake. He chairs the Fire Relief Committee of the Lake Area Rotary Clubs Association and the Rotary District 5130 Fire Fund, which covers Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties, and is a member of the Measure V Oversight Committee.
Cremer came prepared to make his case for appointment, bringing with him support letters from Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta and Konocti Unified Superintendent Donna Becnel among others, with Becnel also appearing to speak in his favor. Sapeta also had come to the meeting but ended up having to leave before he spoke.
Cremer has a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and worked for more than 26 years as an appraiser, farm manager and consultant, and for more than 20 years has been an independent consultant.
He also has extensive community service to recommend him. In addition to his work on the planning commission, he served on the Lake County Fire Protection District Board for five years, was on the committee that was behind the successful campaign for the Measure V sales tax as well as the fire district’s successful Measure D committee.
Cremer currently serves on the city’s cannabis ad hoc committee and the Konocti Unified Measure Y Oversight Committee, and the boards for the Clearlake Rotary, Lake Area Rotary Club Association and the Lower Lake Community Action Group.
Like Slooten, Cremer has been part of the Lake Area Rotary Club Association’s Fire Relief Fund, which raises and distributes money for fire relief and community safety projects.
In February, Cremer and Slooten presented a $14,350 check to Sapeta for a fire communications project, as Lake County News has reported.
While the council would eventually come to a unanimous decision for Cremer, for much of the discussion the council’s members appeared divided between the two men because of the vast qualifications of both.
While some members appeared to favor Cremer’s longtime presence in the county, Harris lauded Slooten’s emphasis on economic development, with Sabatier noting Slooten’s desire to reach out to the community’s most vulnerable members.
Sabatier said he believed Slooten was more of a consensus builder who could put emotions aside.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton gave her support to Cremer, noting she had discussed the men’s resumes with some other individuals who also concluded that Cremer and Slooten were the top applicants.
Councilman Nick Bennett, citing the letters of recommendation and support from Smith, said there was wide support for Cremer.
Noting that the election is coming up in November, “I can tell you who I’m probably going to support in November” with a sign in his yard, Bennett said.
Vice Mayor Phil Harris said his only other concern about Cremer was his involvement in so many different activities. He said the council would need Cremer’s undivided attention and asked that he make it his priority.
Overton moved to appoint Cremer, with Bennett seconding. They were joined by Sabatier and Harris to make it unanimous, with Cremer receiving a round of applause after the vote.
Originally, it had been anticipated that the appointee would take the oath on April 12, at the council’s next regular meeting.
However, on Thursday evening City Manager Greg Folsom reported that a special council meeting is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday to talk about a number of items, including several contracts.
Folsom said Cremer will be sworn in at the start of that special meeting.
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