LATHROP – Rick Caldeira, Lathrop’s city clerk since 2005, is following his heart to San Francisco.
That’s where his next new job is going to be as legislative director for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He will be working directly under the Clerk of the Board.
Explaining what his new duties will entail, he explained that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is “like a state legislator (with) vetoing rights, so I’ll be tracking all that legislation as it goes through the process.”
For Caldeira, landing this new job is a move that will take him to a special place that is close to his heart.
“I love San Francisco. My heart belongs to San Francisco; I love the urban atmosphere,” Caldeira said of his anticipated move to the city by the Bay. His last day on the job is Friday but he is normally off that day, so his last “physical day” at work will be Thursday, he explained.
But as much as he looks forward to returning to a place closer to his family roots in Fremont, Lathrop’s fourth city clerk in the city’s 19-year history of incorporation said he leaves with a great feeling of accomplishment.
“I’ve been here in the valley for little over three years and I really feel proud of my accomplishments here. I brought the city clerk office to a whole another level than it was before, and I’m ready for that next step. I’m ready to be stretched” and for the next challenge, said Caldeira who recently received his Master Municipal Clerk designation.
“I can walk away now and I don’t have any feeling of regret” or concern that “something’s going to happen to what I’ve built,” he said, referring to the system that he has streamlined and set up in the City Clerk’s office, from the processing of council agenda to filing records.
Council member Robert Oliver attests to that.
“Rick inherited a mess” that other clerks before him tried to organize, he said.
“But he took that pile of trash and organized it. The store room is immaculate. You can walk in there and see that he has done a tremendous job cleaning up and organizing. He’s done it really, really well,” Oliver said.
“Rick is a fine man, an excellent city clerk and he’ll do well where he’s going because he’s knowledgeable and capable. He’s ready for another promotion and I wish him well. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll leave the door open for him. Hopefully, we’ll find another young man or woman like him that want to excel, take classes and develop their abilities,” added Oliver.
Council member Sonny Dhaliwal concurred with Oliver’s assessment of Caldeira’s accomplishments in the last three years as city clerk.
“He did a lot of hard work to where that office is much more organized. He’s a nice man, we’ll miss him dearly. I wish him the best,” Dhaliwal said.
Caldeira agreed that the city clerk position “is a highly technical position.”
Contrary to what many think that the city clerk job is just “ a glorified secretarial position, it’s not; it’s a technical field. The way it is now, it is very technical,” he stated.
Although he will be moving out of Lathrop and selling his house, Caldeira will not be cutting completely his connections with Lathrop. While he still has at least one relative in Fremont where he worked as deputy city clerk for five years and as a legal secretary for NUMMI for many years prior to that, he still has plenty of kin in Lathrop to visit – cousins, aunts, and uncles.
“I have a sister in Fremont, the only one (in his family) left there. Everyone came about this way,” he said.
That’s where his next new job is going to be as legislative director for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He will be working directly under the Clerk of the Board.
Explaining what his new duties will entail, he explained that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is “like a state legislator (with) vetoing rights, so I’ll be tracking all that legislation as it goes through the process.”
For Caldeira, landing this new job is a move that will take him to a special place that is close to his heart.
“I love San Francisco. My heart belongs to San Francisco; I love the urban atmosphere,” Caldeira said of his anticipated move to the city by the Bay. His last day on the job is Friday but he is normally off that day, so his last “physical day” at work will be Thursday, he explained.
But as much as he looks forward to returning to a place closer to his family roots in Fremont, Lathrop’s fourth city clerk in the city’s 19-year history of incorporation said he leaves with a great feeling of accomplishment.
“I’ve been here in the valley for little over three years and I really feel proud of my accomplishments here. I brought the city clerk office to a whole another level than it was before, and I’m ready for that next step. I’m ready to be stretched” and for the next challenge, said Caldeira who recently received his Master Municipal Clerk designation.
“I can walk away now and I don’t have any feeling of regret” or concern that “something’s going to happen to what I’ve built,” he said, referring to the system that he has streamlined and set up in the City Clerk’s office, from the processing of council agenda to filing records.
Council member Robert Oliver attests to that.
“Rick inherited a mess” that other clerks before him tried to organize, he said.
“But he took that pile of trash and organized it. The store room is immaculate. You can walk in there and see that he has done a tremendous job cleaning up and organizing. He’s done it really, really well,” Oliver said.
“Rick is a fine man, an excellent city clerk and he’ll do well where he’s going because he’s knowledgeable and capable. He’s ready for another promotion and I wish him well. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll leave the door open for him. Hopefully, we’ll find another young man or woman like him that want to excel, take classes and develop their abilities,” added Oliver.
Council member Sonny Dhaliwal concurred with Oliver’s assessment of Caldeira’s accomplishments in the last three years as city clerk.
“He did a lot of hard work to where that office is much more organized. He’s a nice man, we’ll miss him dearly. I wish him the best,” Dhaliwal said.
Caldeira agreed that the city clerk position “is a highly technical position.”
Contrary to what many think that the city clerk job is just “ a glorified secretarial position, it’s not; it’s a technical field. The way it is now, it is very technical,” he stated.
Although he will be moving out of Lathrop and selling his house, Caldeira will not be cutting completely his connections with Lathrop. While he still has at least one relative in Fremont where he worked as deputy city clerk for five years and as a legal secretary for NUMMI for many years prior to that, he still has plenty of kin in Lathrop to visit – cousins, aunts, and uncles.
“I have a sister in Fremont, the only one (in his family) left there. Everyone came about this way,” he said.
