The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously named Nicole Coburn as its County Executive Officer, making official the unanimous Oct. 8 decision to name her as the final candidate.
The meeting was held in the Scotts Valley City Council Chambers as the county’s meeting room in Santa Cruz is renovated.
Coburn will start on Oct. 25. She will receive an annual salary of $352,393, which averages out to $169.42 per hour.
Her selection came after a national search that garnered 139 applications from around the country.
The two-day selection process with the full board included an interview with a panel composed of people from across the county.
She replaces Carlos Palacios, who has held the position since 2017.
While he knew that Coburn was a front-runner for the position, her appointment was not a foregone conclusion, Supervisor Manu Koenig said.
The job of the board, he said, was to find the most qualified candidate.
“There is just no doubt in my mind that you, Nicole, are that person who rose to the top of the pack throughout the interview process,” he said.
Koenig added that Coburn is “part of a new generation of leaders.”
While many candidates were at the latter parts of their careers, Coburn is in the middle of hers, he said, “bursting with energy and ideas, forward thinking, looking for opportunities to improve.”
Among other things, Coburn was at the forefront of efforts to bring the Public Defender’s office in-house, and hone the county’s strategic and operational plans, Koenig said.
Supervisor Kim De Serpa praised Coburn for weathering the grueling interview process.
“And what comes next will not be easy as we face the inevitable crisis in public service,” De Serpa said.
