Background
Randy retired from full-time municipal work in 2021 after a public service career that spanned nearly 40 years, starting as a part-time employee of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at the age of 17 and concluding as City Manager of the City of Visalia (a full-service city of nearly 150,000 people in Central California.) Early in his career he served as a crime analyst, police specialist, and reserve police officer for the Visalia Police Department before completing his bachelor’s degree in business administration at California State University Fresno and moving through the City’s Finance Department and serving as city clerk. The final eight years of his “first tour” with the City of Visalia were in the position of deputy city manager where, among many other duties, he served as public information officer for the City and for the Visalia Fire Department and as the lead staff member on labor negotiations with the City’s five bargaining units.
After 18 years at the City of Visalia, Randy spent a few years in the private sector before returning to his calling in the public sector, as director of administrative services for the Visalia Unified School District. Several years later he was offered the opportunity to serve as city manager for the City of Exeter (a small town of 11,000 people east of Visalia, on the route to Sequoia National Park). After seven years in that role, he returned to the City of Visalia (for his “second tour”) to serve as city manager until his retirement in 2021.
WFCA
During his final years in Visalia he led the City to partner with the Western Fire Chief’s Association to assist in filling the critical position of fire chief. The outstanding experience with WFCA led him to a continued working relationship with WFCA. He began formally working with WFCA in 2021 and currently serves as the Executive Recruiter and Recruitment Coordinator. He believes strongly in the WFCA’s recruitment format and invests himself personally in the success of the mission. Randy has successfully led multiple recruitment efforts for fire service chief officers in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Family
Randy and his wife Shelly live just outside of Exeter, California. They have three married children and five grandchildren. Randy’s wife retired from the Visalia Unified School District as their director of teacher support services in the human resources department and now does personal and professional coaching.
