CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Due to her family's decision to leave Lake County, Clearlake's vice mayor is resigning her seat on the city council.

Gina Fortino Dickson, whose term expires at the end of this year, handed in her resignation letter to the city clerk on Wednesday, according to City Manager Greg Folsom.

“It is with a heavy heart that I tender the resignation of my post as elected council member. My final date of service will be Aug. 12, 2016,” Dickson said.

“The news was very disappointing to hear because we have had such a wonderful council to work with since I started last year,” said Folsom. “Gina has been a great advocate for the community for many years and will leave some big shoes to fill.”

Fortino Dickson told Lake County News that her son has been accepted to a high tech high school focusing on science and math that is located at Sonoma State. He starts school a week after her resignation date.

Because of her son's educational opportunity, Fortino Dickson said her family moved to Sonoma County in April.

Since then, Fortino Dickson said she has been splitting her time between Clearlake – where she has to live more than 50 percent of the time to remain on the council – and Sonoma County.

She said her goal had been to finish out her term. However, the commuting back and forth and the attempt to manage her family's transition while continuing her council responsibilities has pulled her focus both from her work on the council and her family, she said.

“It's just become more and more difficult,” she said.

Fortino Dickson's resignation comes about four months after Denise Loustalot announced she was leaving the council because she had moved to a new home just outside of the city limits, as Lake County News has reported.

To choose Loustalot's successor, the council went through a recruitment process that included advertising the position, vetting several applicants through an ad hoc committee and ultimately having the council select a new member during a regular meeting.

That led to the appointment of Nick Bennett, a retired Clearlake Police sergeant, in May.

As for how the council – which meets Thursday night – might approach filling this newest vacancy, Folsom said the council has several choices, including selecting one of the candidates who came forward for Loustalot's seat, holding a brand new recruitment or leaving the seat open until the November election.

The city will hold a municipal election in concert with the presidential election on Nov. 8. Along with Fortino Dickson's seat, the seats currently held by Bennett and Joyce Overton also will be on the ballot. The candidate filing period opens next week.

Fortino Dickson is a longtime resident of the city of Clearlake and a graduate of Lower Lake High School.

She had been a member of the Clearlake Planning Commission for five years prior to her election to the City Council in 2012. She is in the middle of her second term as vice mayor.

“Serving with Gina has been a pleasure and I am going to miss her knowledge and advice,” said Mayor Russ Perdock. “I know she has important family matters to attend to and I wish her all the best.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.