Visalia County Center Rotary Club

Karl Schoettler was born in Fresno but has lived in Visalia since 1991. He works as a city planning consultant and formerly had his own consulting firm (Collins & Schoettler) providing consulting to cities around the central valley. In 2024 he sold the firm to 4Creeks and now works as a project manager for that firm. 

Karl has earned several recognitions during his career including a First Place National Planning award for the 2025 Farmersville General Plan – the only such award ever received by any city in the San Joaquin Valley.

Karl is married to Carole Firstman, a published author and lecturer in the English Department at CSU Fresno. Carole is a former Rotarian and was a participant in Rotary’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) Program where she travelled to Nigeria.

Karl and Carole met while involved in community theatre in Visalia and have stayed involved in acting ever since. Karl has appeared in nearly 30 plays since 1992, primarily appearing at Visalia’s Ice House Theatre, where he also served on the board of directors, including a gig as President.

Karl’s other hobbies include gardening, hiking and travelling the world. Karl and Carole are the happy “parents” of two rescued Chihuahuas, Peanut and Hazel, and a turtle named “Mister T”.