Desert’s Top Planner is Planning His Retirement After 29 Years
After serving for many years as the mainstay of the Planning Department’s Desert Office, Paul Clark has announced his retirement from county service, effective March 30.
Paul started work with the Riverside County Planning Department in October 1979 as part of the old Subdivision Section in the Riverside office. He previously attended college at Cal State Fullerton and was employed there as a graduate assistant.
Paul started at the entry level position of Junior Planner, and worked his way up to Associate Planner in Riverside. He became Supervising Planner in December 1983. With that promotion, Paul assumed the direction of the desert field office, which was located in Indio until 2007, at which time it moved to Thousand Palms.
He has held several titles in the desert, and currently is “Principal Planner.”
The desert office during his tenure has been primarily responsible for providing case processing and public counter services to Eastern Riverside County communities. One of the notable development activities Paul witnessed was the growth of wind energy in the San Gorgonio Pass.
Paul became a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) in 1992. He has been active in the last 25 years with various clubs affiliated with Toastmasters International and served in 1996-1997 as District Governor of the 80-plus Toastmaster Club Inland Empire District.
Paul expects to continue his involvement with Toastmasters and relax, travel and enjoy the outdoors. He has no firm plans—kind of ironic for a planner, no?—except, he says with emphasis, that he will not work full time nor run an office.
Paul has served county residents for more than 29 years.