LMC President Bob Kratochvil calls for retirement after calendar year

%E2%80%9CThe+people+are+what+made+everything+here+special%2C+I%E2%80%99m+confident+in+this+staff+moving+forward+when+I+do+officially+retire.

Bob Kratochvil

“The people are what made everything here special, I’m confident in this staff moving forward when I do officially retire.”

Juan Cebreiros, Staff Writer

President Bob Kratochvil announced on Wednesday Aug. 31 that he will be retiring at the end of this calendar year. Kratochvil served as the president of Los Medanos College for over a decade and said about retiring at this time, “10 just feels like a good number.”

“I want to be able to enjoy my retirement with my family, I’m looking forward to traveling a lot and being able to just relax,” he said.

Kratochvil specifically picked August 31st so he could tell his cabinet staff as well as those close to him. As he told his staff, he said everyone was shocked by his announcement but understood where Kratochvil came from about retiring. 

Although Kratochvil said about his retirement that he’s very excited to begin a new phase of his life and spend more time with his family, he will greatly miss the day to day activities that come with being president of LMC.

During Kratochvil’s time here at LMC, the college has been named as a top 150 Community College in the nation four times as well as being able to turn this campus into what it is today by adding multiple new buildings and helping build a friendly community.

Kratochvil didn’t anticipate seeing himself entering the field of education as he wanted to be a pediatric doctor, however this all changed in 1980 when he got his start at California State University and fell in love with the work since. 

Recently, college presidents have seen quick turnover with the majority only serving three to five years recently. Kratochvil is proud of his 10 years at LMC, doubling the average time others spend in his line of work

 “It feels like the right time to retire.”

With an interim to be named when Kratochvil does officially retire, he notes that it can take 8 to 10 months for a permanent replacement to be named as the chancellor must recommend someone and then they must go through a certification process through the board, which can be a long drawn out process. 

Kratochvil wanted to thank everyone during his time at LMC but really wanted to show some light to the taxpayers of the area. Many of the new buildings on the LMC campus and Brentwood center were built from taxpayers money and Kratochvil wanted to show his appreciation to them for helping fund the buildings. 

Leaving his LMC family will be difficult, but Kratochvil is confident they will be able to continue the great success the college has seen in the past decade.