Clovis City Planner Bryan Araki to retire after 33 years

Vong Mouanoutoua (left), Bryan Araki (middle) and Lynne Ashbeck (right) help commemorate Araki’s retirement with a street sign in his name. Araki will hang it up and cherish it for the rest of his life. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF CLOVIS

All good things must come to an end, and for the city of Clovis, city planner Bryan Araki’s last day on the job was one to remember.

“It certainly was a good career, probably one of the best from people that I had talked to. Clovis was just such a wonderful place to work, just because everybody really cares for one another and their community,” Araki said. “It’s a neat place because the people come to work for more than just a paycheck, they are there to really do their job, so it made it really easy for me.”

After being hired back in 1986, Araki gave all he had and then some for the community of Clovis. His roles included the city’s graphics technician, planning technician, assistant planner, associate planner, senior planner and finally city planner.

“Everyone there just made the job so much easier on me and Dwight Kroll,” Araki said. “Certainly being able to work under Dwight was a real blessing in itself, but to spend 33 years in a place like that is not common for government employees in cities like that. To be able to do it with a great staff and a council that trusts the staff, you couldn’t ask for more.”

Araki’s commitment to the job was honored last Friday as members of the Clovis City Council including Vong Mouanoutoua, Lynne Ashbeck and Jose Flores, along with city manager Luke Serpa, awarded Araki with a street sign honored with his name.

The street sign read, “Araki Road” in honor of the retiring member of the city of Clovis.

“That in itself is a memento I’ll hang on my wall for the rest of my life,” Araki said.

A statement by the city of Clovis read: “While his employment at the City has ended, Bryan’s legacy will live on for generations.”

Their gift will go into Araki’s shop, but will have a new home in the near future.

Now that Araki has more time on his hands, he plans to split that with his graphics business that he started when he was in high school and a new home that he plans on building in Clovis.

“In the next year, I’m going to be building a new house and I’m going to put a poll with a bracket to put it in the entryway of my driveway,” Araki said. “It will probably take me a year maybe a year and a half to build the house and do the landscaping, which I plan to do myself.”

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