SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Former Watsonville City Manager Carlos Palacios was sworn in as the new County Administrative Officer for Santa Cruz County Tuesday at the County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Palacios will replace Susan Mauriello, who announced her retirement in January. He starts the position July 7.
Palacios, 55, left his job as Watsonville City Manager in 2014 after more than two decades to take the Deputy County Administrative Officer position.
Tuesday’s meeting was attended by a swarm of city and county officials along with a large body of community members and media.
A nationwide search was set in motion in search of a replacement of Mauriello.
“We wanted to look nationwide to ensure we found the best candidate possible,” said Supervisor John Leopold. “We wanted a great leader who is going to be able to harness the creativity of our staff and create a strategic vision for the county.”
Of the 25 applications, Palacios was among six candidates narrowed down in the final decision making process.
“Almost every single organization just simply said ‘can’t we just hire Carlos,’” said Supervisor Zach Friend. “The amount of grassroots interest and energy in having him be the leader was pretty remarkable. It’s very organic how it came up. The county is shattering a glass ceiling in hiring Mr. Palacios.”
Friend said it was important that the county was hiring a person with vast diversity and he noted the importance of hiring a Latino for the position.
