City of Visalia

The Community The City of Visalia, located in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, is a thriving, vibrant community of over 110,000 residents, and remainsone of California’s fastest growing cities. This is a reflection of the community’s quality of life, affordability, and small town charm. Historic downtown Visalia is a flourishing business and social location with a vibrant collection of restaurants, unique shops, and offices. Recent renovation and development efforts in the downtown area reflect the City’s commitment to maintaining the quality of life, community spirit, and retail health of the City.Additionally, the City has many community parks, organized team sports, swimming, bicycling, minor league baseball, golf and more. The City also offers the advantages of a more urban area: its own symphony, a thriving arts community, the elegant Convention Center and several theatres. The Organization The City of Visalia was founded in 1852, incorporated in 1874, and became a charter city in 1923. The City operates under the Council-Manager form of government with a five-member City Council. Council members are elected at-large to four-year overlapping terms and the Council selects one of its members to serve as Mayor for a two-year term. The Council appoints a City Manager who serves at the pleasure of the Council. Steven M. Salomon was appointed City Manager in 1996 after serving as City Manager in several other cities, with over 30 years of public sector experience. The City Manager’s executive staff includes two Assistant City Managers, one of whom oversees the Community Development Department, a Deputy City Manager, and department heads for Fire, Police, Parks & Recreation, Public Works, Administrative Services, and the newly created Housing and Economic Development Department. Visalia, a full-service city, employs 563 full-time employees and approximately 350 hourly employees. The City has a two-year budget cycle. In the current FY 2006-07, the total budget is $140.3 million which includes a general fund budget of $57.6 million and a CIP budget of $38.9 million. The City has a strong financial history and the overall financial health of the City is positive. Visalia’s City Council has established a policy of having substantial emergency reserves. The City currently has a reserve of $8.6 million or 18% of the net General Fund operating budget.