Baker Quits as San Joaquin County’s Chief
David Baker, who left Ventura County’s top post after only a week on the job, has called it quits as San Joaquin County administrator.
Baker, who resigned to begin a doctoral program in public administration at Arizona State University, exposed the biggest financial crisis in Ventura County history in his six-page letter of resignation in November 1999.
Baker, after abruptly leaving the Ventura County post, was rehired by San Joaquin County supervisors for the $128,000-a-year job he had just left. At the time, he promised to stay through 2002.
San Joaquin County Supervisor Dario Marenco said, however, that the board is happy for Baker and supports his decision.
“I’m sorry to see him leave,” Marenco said. “Baker has done a terrific job. But this is what he wants to do. We hope to hire him back as a consultant.”
Baker, 52, hopes to begin work as a consultant while in the program and eventually wants to become a college professor.
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