SEAL BEACH : Nelson: Resignation Is Strictly Personal

City Manager Robert Nelson, whose resignation was announced Tuesday, said he does not have another job lined up but decided to quit so he could devote his energy to finding one.

“At this point in time, I’ll be exploring whatever options I have. I think I have some useful skills as an executive that could be used in public agencies as well as private agencies,” Nelson said.

In discussing his resignation, Nelson referred to a Zen parable used in a commercial for a drug rehabilitation center. In the parable, a man hangs onto a rock in the middle of a river and allows himself to be buffeted by the rapids because he is afraid of what might be downstream.

“I don’t have the fear of what’s downstream,” Nelson, 51, said. “At this point in time, the job here is not meeting my personal needs, and I think I will have a better opportunity to find something that will meet my needs if I devote my time to doing that rather than devoting my primary energy to this job and my secondary energy to finding another job.”

Nelson, city manager for four years, said the job was demanding and prevented him from spending time with his two young children. He said that his two older children are in their 20s and that he missed much of their childhood because of career obligations.

Rumors had been circulating for several days that Nelson would resign because of friction with new council members over Mola Development Corp.’s proposed housing development and the city’s response to an Orange County Grand Jury report critical of the Police Department.

Nelson and council members interviewed have denied speculation that recent city problems or differences of opinion prompted his resignation.