Former mayoral candidate Peter Godwin will leave Evanston in August to take a job in California.

Godwin’s new job will be serving as general counsel for a startup company, he said.

Godwin was the first candidate to challenge Mayor Lorraine Morton since she was first elected in 1993.

Godwin served on the Evanston Board of Ethics until giving his resignation two or three weeks ago, board member Robert Romain said.

“He worked with the committee extremely well,” Romain said. “He has an incisive mind and a good knowledge of the law. Regardless of personal feelings, he was always the one who really stuck to the letter of the law and its intent.”

Godwin was appointed to the board in November 2001 and reappointed in 2004.

His wife, Hilary Godwin, is the chemistry department chairwoman at Northwestern University. Peter Godwin said his wife will finish the year at Northwestern and then take a leave of absence. Hilary Godwin declined to comment about the family’s move.

Several weeks before last year’s election, Peter Godwin wrote Morton a letter offering to share the mayor’s salary if she would serve as Evanston’s “public liaison.” Morton rejected Godwin’s offer.

A candidate selected by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council will fill his spot on the Board of Ethics, he said.

Godwin said he has no plans to run for office in his new town.

“It would be something I’d think about,” Godwin said. “I’m more focused on the (new) job. Finding a place to live and such takes precedence.”

Reach Laura Olson at [email protected].