San Anselmo Town Manager Announces Retirement; Reflects on Tenure, Marin Flood of 2005

SAN ANSELMO, CA — A replacement for San Anselmo’s Town Manager Debra Stutsman will need to be found.

Stutsman announced Tuesday that she is retiring at the end of February 2017 after 27 years of service to the town, the last 15 as town manager.

“I have loved serving the San Anselmo community, where I’ve lived for 40 years,” Stutsman said in a news release Wednesday. “Being the town manager and a resident has made the job extra special for me. My children grew up here and my husband and I are here to stay.”

In a phone interview Wednesday with Patch, Stutsman, 63, said upon retirement she is looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren, one of whom will be born soon; traveling with her husband, playing golf and brushing up on her French.

Looking back on her tenure, Stutsman said she first came to work for the town in 1989 as a part-time employee.

“I was home with small children and wasn’t looking for a job, but the town was looking for someone to serve as an assistant to the volunteer coordinator, so I did that and the job grew from there,” Stutsman said.

The job was 12 to 16 hours a week, which allowed her to still be home to care for her three children.

She went on to serve in another part-time position as town clerk, and in 2002, she accepted the town manager position.

Three years later, in 2005 — after her youngest graduated from high school in 2004 — San Anselmo was hit with a major flood, as was much of Marin County. Not only was the downtown area of San Anselmo flooded, but the flood waters ruined the town’s Police Department, Fire Department, Library and City Council Chambers.

“Leading the town through that crisis was a big thing — rebuilding our facilities and going through the very difficult process of reimbursement from state and federal agencies,” Stutsman said.

All told, the town spent $7 million rebuilding and was reimbursed for more than $5 million of the recovery work, she said.

There were additional facility changes made when everything else was a mess, but those items were done on the town’s dime in conjunction with the recovery effort, she said.

Not only is she proud of the rebuilding that took place, Stutsman is also proud of the technology upgrades made by the town over the past 10 years.

“We’ve really gotten a lot further ahead with our technology,” Stutsman said. “I feel proud that we have software for most of our recreation, the library and even permit processing. In a town with limited resources, it hasn’t been easy.”

As for whom will fill her shoes come February, Stutsman said she is preparing an agenda item for the next town meeting about the various options the council can take, such as a national recruitment and/or looking in-house.

“It is definitely up to the council to make a decision,” she said.