NEWS

From the County of San Bernardino

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1, 2000

For more information, contact

County Public Information Officer David Wert

(909) 387-4082

dwert@cao.co.san-bernardino.ca.us

Keith Lee chosen to oversee economic development

Keith Lee, director of the county’s Jobs and Employment Services Department since 1991, has been chosen from a field of 53 applicants to fill the newly created position of Associate Administrative Officer for the county’s Economic Development and Public Services Group.

Effective today, Mr. Lee will oversee four departments recently grouped together by the county to foster economic growth – Economic and Community Development, Redevelopment, Jobs and Employment Services and Land Use Services.

Those departments will work together under Mr. Lee’s leadership to put to better use the economic development resources of the county to bring employers into the county, train county residents to work for those employers, link trained workers with those employers, and coordinate these efforts with cities in the county.

“Keith’s appointment brings into focus the vision the Board of Supervisors and I have of a county that takes a proactive approach to creating quality jobs,” said County Administrative Officer William H. Randolph.

Mr. Lee excelled as the county’s longtime director of Jobs and Employment Services, forming partnerships with countless local businesses and taking on a large part of the new mandates of the 1996 welfare reform laws.

“Keith’s management style is characterized by collaboration and cooperation. These will be essential elements in making the new partnership between our four economic development departments a success,” said John Goss, the county’s Assistant Administrative Officer for the Economic Development and Public Services Group and Mr. Lee’s direct supervisor.

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Keith Lee Appointed

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“Keith has an excellent understanding of the local labor market,” Mr. Goss said. “He also has a well-established, positive working relationship with the county’s cities, school districts, business community and non-profit organizations, which will be important in developing, implementing and supporting economic development plans.”

The Board of Supervisors created Mr. Lee’s new position on March 14 at the suggestion of Mr. Randolph as part of a historic reorganization of county government.

Besides this increased and focused emphasis on economic development, the reorganization plan placed the county’s social services and health care functions under one administrator to better serve residents. It also afforded the county’s fiscal departments a higher level of supervision to better monitor county spending and foster the public’s trust in county government.

Mr. Lee emerged from a field of 53 applicants. The finalists were interviewed by a panel comprised of local government experts from outside the county – Pomona City Manager Severo Esquivel, University of La Verne Vice President Phil Hawkey (a former city manager of Pasadena and Dayton, Ohio), and retired former assistant director of the San Diego Association of Governments Stu Shaeffer.

Although Mr. Lee has worked for the county for many years, his selection was finalized only after a detailed background investigation was conducted, as is the practice in San Bernardino County.

Mr. Lee is the father of three children and lives in San Bernardino.

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