Fortuna Police Chief Casey Day is headed south, leaving the Friendly City after about five years on the job.
Day, who has announced he will be leaving Fortuna after nearly five years on the job, has accepted an offer to become chief of the Pacific Grove Police Department. His last day in Fortuna will be March 28.
Mayor Pro Tem Tami Trent told The Enterprise that when Day stepped in as Fortuna’s chief after 19 years as an officer with the Anderson Police Department, the department was struggling.
“Chief came in at a time when morale was down and we needed a lot of help,” Trent said. “He brought the department up.”
City Manager Amy Nielsen said Day has been “an absolutely great asset” to the city.
“We’ll miss him tremendously, and he’ll do a fantastic job in Pacific Grove,” Nilsen said.
Trent said she’s sad to see Day go but doesn’t begrudge his choice, noting he’s close to retirement age and Pacific Grove’s job will pay better than Fortuna can afford. According to Pacific Grove City Manager Matthew Morgensen, Day’s base salary will start at just over $211,000 annually, an almost $90,000 increase over what he was paid in Fortuna, according to Transparent California.
“The city he’s going to can pay him a whole lot more than we can and it will set him up great for retirement,” Trent said. “I don’t have any ill will toward him. He’s done a great job for us.”
Day, for his part, said his family has long loved the area of Pacific Grove, visiting it often, and views it as “possibly a forever home.” Day said he will leave Fortuna incredibly proud of his tenure, particularly the professional development he’s helped bring to department employees and the department’s cultural shift to a more community-oriented style of policing.
“What an honor it’s been to serve beside the men and women of the Fortuna Police Department,” he said, noting that the city council and city managers throughout his tenure have been wonderful to work with.
At the close of the March 17 council meeting, Nilsen closed her city manager’s report by thanking Day for his service and wishing him well. Day then addressed the council.
“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “Fortuna will always have a special place in my heart, and I leave knowing that the police department and the city are in good hands. But I assure you, you have not seen the last of me.”
“Thank you,” Mayor Mike Johson responded. “You will be missed.”
The council voted unanimously March 19 to appoint Fortuna Police Lt. Matthew Eberhardt, an officer with the department since 1998, to serve in the position of interim police chief after Day’s departure, beginning March 29.
Editor’s note: This story was first published in The Ferndale Enterprise.
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