From:
To: Mary Gourley
Cc:
Subject: CITY OF SEBASTOPOL"S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE SONOMA COUNTY LIBRARY COMMISSION ASSESSMENT
AND ACTION PLAN FOR DISCUSSION
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2026 2:03:52 PM
Attachments:
07-02-2026
Good afternoon, Mary
Attached is the "action plan" request from me by Council Member, Stephen Zollman.
Stephen mentioned that you requested some information from me about my background in property management, residential,, and commercial.
I have been actively engaged since m in the management of commercial, civic, and residential properties since my appointment as a resident advisor(RA) at the newly established student housing center (Mesa Court) at UC Irvine in the latter part of 1965.
While at UC Irvine a managed University owned student housing residences i 10 fifty unit buildings) in Mesa Court and later the apartment housing complex was established on the other side of the Irvine Campus. During my tenure I was directly engaged in the resolution of resident (tenant) disputes, the management of a major decontamination program arising from an outbreak of viral meningitis, water fights, and ensuring damage to property,police activities, and a full range of other student housing related issues.
When I started my MA Program in Humanistic Psychology at Sonoma State University, I was hired to manage a privately funded and managed student housing apartment building (Jung Haus) as a supplement to my on-campus employment,
This eventually led to my obtaining a
California Real Estate Sales license and then my work on the development Creative Property Services (CPS) and its Property Management Division .
I left CPS after I started my studies at Empire College at Law after realizing that I could not effectively manage law school, my work at SSU, and CPS all at the same time.
I returned to property management and the prevention and resolution of landlord-tenants disputes after establishing my private law in 1984 through my retirement .
Most of my "mold work" was related to the prevention of incursions through the establish of policies designed to prevent or limit the incursion of mold. and a joint landlord-tenant prevention program . Having such policies in place reduced my need for remediation efforts to isolated incidents.
While engaged in the above, I had the opportunity to gain experience in the prevention and resolution of a full range (a few of which are hard to imagine) of major incidents.
My general approach to problem solving stresses, preparation and prevention. I've always felt that it is better to take the time to plan for a critical event and manage it as opposed simply reacting to it.
A part of my approach includes actively learning from a crisis, when pone occurs, to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions.
Yours sincerely,
Fred Engbarth
City of Sebastopol's Representative to the Sonoma County Library Commission
ATTACHMENTS
cc:
Stephen Zollman, City Council Member and Liaison
Sarah Gurney, Measure Y/W Committee Representative
Mary Lou Schmidt, President Gravenstein Health Action Coalition Erica Thibaut, Library Director
Sara Laggos, Chair, Sonoma County Library Commission