Novato is proud of Councilmember Josh Fryday as he has been appointed as the new Chief Service Officer for California by Governor Gavin Newsom. Fryday will lead California Volunteers, the state office tasked with increasing service opportunities and volunteerism throughout California, effective September 1, 2019. Prior to beginning service in his new role, Fryday will be vacating his Novato City Council seat.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent the deeply held values of our community—safety, environmental protection, civic engagement and service—throughout all of California,” said Fryday.

“Councilmember Fryday has been a great leader in Novato, and we are Novato Proud that his skills and abilities have been recognized at the State level,” said City Manager Regan M. Candelario. “The City is sad to see him go, but we are confident that his allegiance to Novato will remain, and he will be able to support our local efforts from the State Capital.”

Fryday was elected to the Novato City Council in 2015, and recently served as Mayor in 2018.  He was instrumental in bringing the Reimagining Citizenship program, a partnership between Dominican University and the City, to Novato and was a strong advocate for our City employee groups. The City Council will work towards determining next steps regarding the vacant seat on Council. Novato recently established a by-district election process in five council districts with Fryday representing District 5. Novato will hold its first by-district elections later this year for Districts 1, 3 and 5. More information on Novato’s upcoming elections is available at novato.org/elections.