The Riverbank City Council has made it official and named Marisela Garcia the new City Manager for the City of Riverbank. With over 24 years of service to the City of Action, Garcia’s new position has finally come to fruition with the ultimate goal to be the next City Manager.
“It was exciting,” stated Garcia about the official announcement at the City Council meeting of Tuesday, April 12. “Being raised in this community I went through the entire school system here and stayed local when I went to college and the university. Just being able to serve my community and having seen where it was when I was young to where it is now has been amazing and to get to be a part of that is a big goal of mine.”
The position is not really new for Garcia as she has been the interim City Manager twice for Riverbank, serving a few months in 2016 and recently after Sean Scully left. She spent the past few years as the Assistant City Manager during the time Scully was City Manager. The assistant position was created by design as the City Council wanted someone to be able to fill the role if it became vacant.
She said, “Looking strategically at positions we have now and those that are key to our organization and trying to build that continuity so City Council had the foresight to think ahead on that particular item. The City Managers in the past have been fantastic mentors for me.”
As the Assistant City Manager, Garcia worked closely with the City Manager and was involved with specific projects from beginning to the end as well as working closely with the City Council. She was also able to transition away from finance as the assistant and focus on bigger projects like the Sierra House, Crossroads West commercial, and Crossroads West Housing Development. The Sierra House is an overnight shelter that the City is working on to help address homelessness within the community.
Garcia spent several years as the Director of Finance for the City but her humble beginnings were with the Parks and Recreation Department. While she was in college she worked an internship with Parks and Rec, assisting with summer camps and then was offered a part-time job with the after school program at California Avenue Elementary. From there the rest is history as she has been working for the City ever since and now has taken on the City Manager role.
“I have lived here in Riverbank my entire life,” added Garcia. “We have a lot of residents and students that start part-time in our recreation department I hope they can take my example and know that there are opportunities out there; and to be able to serve your community, what more do you want.”
The hard work has paid off for Garcia and with the history, being a resident, going through the school system, and seeing all the different phases of Riverbank she believes she can make a positive impact.
A few goals that Garcia expressed in this new role are to bridge the gap between Crossroads and downtown, as well as a downtown revitalization, and keeping everyone in the community informed including seniors and Spanish speaking residents.
Garcia is the first Latina to hold the position of City Manager for the City of Riverbank and with a supportive family, city staff, and City Council she sees a bright future for Riverbank.
“I would love to finish my career here,” remarked Garcia. “It definitely would be great to be able to do that but if not we don’t know where the opportunities may lie. This is my community so this is where my heart is.”
