LATHROP – The City of Lathrop has a new city manager

Elected Lathrop leaders last week appointed longtime Deputy City Manager and Interim City Manager Stephen Salvatore to the position on a permanent basis.

The council tapped Salvatore to take the reins on a temporary basis when then-City Manager Cary Keaten announced that he was leaving the city to take over the Solano Irrigation District in Vacaville months ago.

With a background that gives him an expert knowledge of the city’s public works department – starting as the head of that department on January 1, 2008 – Salvatore says that crossing over in departments has allowed him to learn more than enough to make informed, sound judgments and get a solid hold on how things operate.

“I think that it definitely helps by having the understanding to break down the local infrastructure,” Salvatore said. “I think it will help allow development to move forward in being able to understand whats in place – it helps when it comes to know how to develop an area that’s, say is, remote in utilities and has other problems.

“By being the past Public Works Director and Deputy City Manager, I have the full understanding and institutional knowledge required for different projects.”

Back when Keaten decided to leave the city the council opted to spend the money to hire an executive search firm to handle the heavy lifting in what can be arduous and labor-intensive undertaking.

Closed-door discussions have been a routine part of council meetings for months as headway on which direction to proceed was hammered out by all involved parties.

And now that he has the official nod of the majority of elected officials that make-up the dais, Salvatore says that he’s committed to carrying out the wishes of the Lathrop City Council and moving forward in any direction that they see fit – providing guidance when necessary and keeping the best outcome of the city and its residents on the forefront of his mind.

“I think that we have a very large amount of entitled properties, and I think that there’s a responsibility to develop those and obviously, with that, contribute to the city’s health and well-being financially,” Salvatore said. “Being sustainable and responsible – these are the types of things that we have to look at when we’re moving forward with the plans that we feel are in the best interest of the city as a whole.