Sonoma County fire recovery director Michael Gossman to leave post

The founding leader of the Sonoma County’s agency spearheading fire recovery will step down from his job at the end of the month, moving on to an assistant city manager role for another California city.

Michael Gossman, 42, is a deputy Sonoma County administrator and the first director of the Office of Recovery and Resiliency, which tracks and supports the ongoing community recovery from the deadly, destructive 2017 North Bay wildfires.

He’s leaving the county post Jan. 27, and his second in command, Christel Querijero, has been named Gossman’s interim replacement.

The Office of Recovery and Resiliency didn’t exist before those fires. Gossman, the former chief financial officer for Sonoma Water, was on an entirely different career track before finding his calling in the days following the fires that killed 24 people in Sonoma County and torched more than 5,300 homes.

“In terms of my career, this is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Gossman said in a phone interview Thursday evening, crediting the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrator’s Office for their support.

He also said the work prepared him for the next step in his career, but he preferred not to share the location due to family concerns.

Gossman, whose salary is $165,000 a year, said he is proud of the work he and his team have done for Sonoma County, including rebuilding nearly 1,300 homes and increasing the emergency management team’s capacity.

“Standing that up from nothing, being able to build on that …,” Gossman trailed off.

In Querijero, Gossman said the county has a worthy successor. He hired her for a reason.

“I have absolute confidence in Christel,” Gossman said. “She has the highest degree of ethics and her commitment to Sonoma County.”

You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or at tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @tylersilvy.