Outgoing San Ramon City Manager Joe Gorton Named Employee Of The Year

SAN RAMON, CA — Long-time San Ramon City Manager Joe Gorton was honored as the Employee of the Year by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce at its Business and Community Awards Dinner Thursday night.

Gorton, who has served as city manager since 2017 and served as chief of the San Ramon Police Department from 2013, announced in September that he will retire in January.

Gorton began his career in 1988 as a deputy sheriff for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, according to a city news release. He was assigned to the city of San Ramon in 1990 when the city contracted for police services through the county. In November 2006, he became a captain and founding member of the San Ramon Police Department, and was promoted to SRPD Chief in November 2013.

In January 2017, he took over as the San Ramon city manager. During his tenure, the city was able to retain a AAA Bond rating and a large reserve.

He also helped oversee the refurbishment of a number of its facilities, including City Hall, the community centers, the San Ramon Senior Center, and the San Ramon Olympic Pool. The city also constructed a refurbished San Ramon Police Station, and a new joint dispatch and emergency operations center. The city also completed a number of infrastructure improvements, including widening Bollinger Canyon Road and Alcosta Boulevard, and completing a pedestrian bridge over Bollinger Canyon Road at the Iron Horse Trail crossing.

Gorton also helped the SRPD partner with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District on a mental health pilot project, which shifts response to 911 calls related to non-violent mental health emergencies to paramedics and medically-trained firefighters first. Gorton also worked with Contra Costa County and 19 area cities and towns to establish the award-winning A3 Community Crisis Response Initiative, which aims to provide behavioral 24/7 health crisis services to anyone in the county.