A new city manager will fill the executive spot for the City of Goleta starting September 1. Robert Nisbet, who was chosen from dozens of candidates, brings four years of experience as city manager of Half Moon Bay and 19 years of government experience in Santa Barbara County. He replaces Michelle Greene, who tendered her retirement papers in January, after 18 years with the city. Nisbet's salary will be a $291,000 per year package, an upward increase of $30,000 for the city's budget.
Goleta is familiar ground for Nisbet, who studied for his master's degree in economics at UC Santa Barbara in the late '80s. He worked in the County of Santa Barbara’s General Services section for 12 years and as Carpinteria's Public Works director for seven years. He then joined the East Bay Regional Park District in 2012, managing 750 employees across 125,000 acres of open space, trails, and parks before he was recruited to manage the Bay Area city of Half Moon Bay.
Hiking, camping, and bicycling are among his favorite things to do, Nisbet said, and he toured Old Town Goleta by bike to search for housing. "There's not a lot of vacancies in the Old Town business district," he said, "and that's a positive thing."