How Come No One Wants to Work in Dixon Anymore?

It all started back in April when Royce Cunningham resigned from his post as the engineer. Since then, it seems that the city and the Dixon Unified School District has seen a parade of people leaving their positions in Dixon for jobs in Vacaville, Sacramento and Napa.

Cunningham took a position in Vacaville, where he lives, as that city’s assistant director of utilities. He had worked as Dixon’s city engineer for almost six years, overseeing some of Dixon’s major projects such as its and also worked with the state water board to lower salinity levels in

Following Cunningham’s lead, City Manager Nancy Huston in early May to become Solano County’s assistant county administrator. Huston had been Dixon’s city manager since June 2008 and under her leadership, several key management positions were filled in Dixon and several cost-saving practices were put in place.

Huston was instrumental in hiring Dixon’s police chief and now , Dixon Fire Chief Aaron McAlister and City Finance and Technology Director Jeremy Craig, who after working in Dixon for about two years, gave his resignation this month to become Vacaville’s director of finance and technology. Craig’s last day in Dixon is July 28.

The is also experiencing a mini-exodus. At Thursday’s meeting of the DUSD School Board, the board announced that Superintendent to take a position with a school district in Southern California. The Dixon School District will allow him to stay on as school superintendent until the details of Halberg’s contract are finalized.

Back in May, long-time Dixon High School Principal , as their school district’s director of bilingual education. Chaidez had worked at DHS for about 11 years, and under his leadership, the school was placed on the state’s list of Distinguished Schools.

DHS has also seen the departure of its former director of special education, Betty Jo Wessinger who took a position as Rocklin Unified School District’s Director of Special Education and Special Programs.

Of course, these individuals left because of their own reasons and one could only speculate that it was because their new jobs are closer to home, or because they offer more money, or an opportunity to work with a different set of personalities.

In some cases, the vacant positions in Dixon have been filled, in others, the process is underway. In this Dixon Dialogue I want to know, dear readers, what your thoughts are about this trend. Why do you think people are clamoring to leave their jobs in Dixon for other jobs in different cities?

Do the jobs in Dixon pay enough? Are the work environments friendly? What do you expect from your next city manager, superintendent of schools, and other vacant positions in Dixon?