Citrus Heights mayor resigns with 3 months left on term. Will city fill role before election?
Citrus Heights Mayor Bret Daniels announced he will be stepping down from his position Saturday, leaving the city’s highest elected role vacant three months shy of the end of his term.
In a statement to city council members Tuesday, first reported by the Citrus Heights Sentinel, Daniels said it was with “deep regret and a heavy heart” he was resigning from the role to move to Kentucky.
“I have not been able to secure housing in my district and I do not want to put the City in any jeopardy, so I must resign,” he said.
Daniels originally told CBS 13 in July that he planned to leave California at the end of the year, after his current mayoral term ends, due to “an erosion of local control” in the state. The news outlet reported that he wanted to move to a place more in line with Christian, conservative values.
Daniels did not immediately respond to requests for an interview. At his final city council meeting Wednesday, he acknowledged his fellow council members, the community and his family for their support over the years.
“Thank you to the citizens of Citrus Heights for trusting me,” he said. “Through four elections you’ve decided I’m here. I’m incredibly grateful and honored to have served you.”
The city announced in a Friday news release that officials will weigh their options on how to fill the mayor’s vacancy at the next city council meeting Sept. 11.
“The City Council will address any upcoming vacancies with the same dedication to maintaining public safety, community vibrancy, and economic development that residents have come to expect,” the news release said.
Typically, the council selects one of its members to serve as mayor for a year-long term. Daniels in his letter to the council requested his seat be left open so that residents could decide who would represent his district at the ballot box in November.
Daniels, a registered Republican, has served more than 14 years on the Citrus Heights City Council. He was first elected to the council in 1999. He became mayor in December 2004 and resigned in November 2005.
He was elected to the council again in 2016 and won reelection in 2020. In 2023 he served as vice mayor, before becoming mayor at the end of last year, according to the city’s website. He has frequently fought to prevent taxes from being raised in Citrus Heights.
In 2018, he was censured by the Citrus Heights City Council after police reports accused him of stalking and harassing a former girlfriend. Police determined he had not committed a crime, and Daniels denied the woman’s reports, The Sacramento Bee reported at the time. He also told the council that even if the woman’s reports were true, it was “a private matter.”
Daniels unsuccessfully ran earlier this year for the Fourth District seat on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in the March primary elections.
Before his career in politics, Daniels served in the Air Force and was a sheriff’s deputy.
During Wednesday night’s city council meeting, Vice Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa called Daniels one of the best council members the city has ever seen.
“He stands up for Citrus Heights,” she said. “He is not afraid to speak on behalf of our city for what’s right for our city.”
Daniels is leaving three months before his term was set to expire in December. Starting Sunday, the city of nearly 88,000 people will be without a mayor.
