Costa Mesa : City Manager Resigns to Take Post With Shrine

Fred Sorsabal, Costa Mesa’s city manager for 15 years, has submitted his resignation to become a Shrine potentate.

Sorsabal, a member of the El Bekal Shrine Temple in Anaheim, will leave his job, which pays $78,816 a year, on Oct. 31. He will start his new, unpaid position with the worldwide philanthropic organization in January.

Councilman Donn Hall said that being named a potentate “is an honor most people don’t ever achieve.” During his one-year term as potentate, Sorsabal will be in charge of more than 4,600 Shriners in Orange County, Hall said.

The move was not without cost for Sorsabal, Hall said. “It’s going to be an expensive but rewarding year. Some of the people who become potentates are independently wealthy; Fred is not.”

Mayor Norma Hertzog raised Sorsabal’s performance as city manager. “He has been a strong city manager and is highly respected by us and his peers,” she said. Sorsabal was out of town Wednesday.

Hertzog said a search for a replacement is under way and a Sacramento recruiting firm has been hired to help.

“We will be interviewing candidates both from within the city and also from other cities in California,” she said. “We’ll probably personally interview eight to 10 candidates and narrow it down from that.”