Public Works Management Department gets a new leader
CITY HALL A nearly 20-year-life in Palmdale neatly stacked in boxes, Leon Swain, the new director of environmental and public works, made the more than hour-long drive west to Santa Monica earlier this week, a new home, a new job, and a city almost 30 degrees warmer in the summer.
Swain, the former public works director in the growing Antelope Valley community, was recently hired to oversee the Environmental and Public Works Management Department in City Hall, replacing former director Craig Perkins who left the city after nearly 25 years.
He will assume the role starting Monday. Perkins, who left City Hall to join the Energy Coalition, a non-profit that helps cities reduce their energy demand and greenhouse gas pollution, was credited with launching much of the environmental initiatives in Santa Monica, including the Sustainable City Plan.
For Swain, a Maine native who moved to Southern California in the early 1980s, uprooting to a beach town was a long-time dream, the change made possible by the fact that his two daughters are now in college and independent.
“It is good to be here,” Swain said, taking a break from the move on Tuesday. “It’s my official first day here, tonight will be my first night living in Santa Monica and I’m thrilled.”
A graduate of the University of Maine, Swain, 47, was hired as a civil engineer with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in 1983, moving to Palmdale six years later where he was hired as an associate engineer for the city.
He would move up the ladder over the next 19 years, going on to become the senior engineer and then director of public works in 2003.
Swain oversaw the completion of more than 500 projects during his tenure in Palmdale, a community that has grown from about 60,000 to 148,000 residents today, one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
“There was a tremendous amount of infrastructure that needed to be provided for new residents and businesses,” Swain said.
Among the projects that Swain managed was the development of City Hall, public libraries and an amphitheater that accommodates 12,000 people.
The high desert community is considered to be one of the last areas for potential development in the county, attractive and affordable for young families.
“I think he would be perfect at making sure we stay on track,” — Ewell said
The growth experienced in the community, most of which took place in the 1990s, demanded the development of several master plans, including ones for sewer and water management, all of which were crafted under the watchful eye of Swain.
His management skills were a main reason why City Manager Lamont Ewell hired Swain, whose more than 500 capital projects were all completed on time and within budget.
“That signaled for me a person who is very organized and who can manage multiple projects simultaneously and can get things done,” Ewell said.
Swain is expected to have his hands full with capital projects ranging from the development of the water treatment facility to the storm drain replacement project at the Santa Monica Pier.
It was in 1996 when five groundwater production wells were shut down in the Charnock Well Field after a leak of MTBE, a gasoline additive, was discovered from underground storage tanks and pipes owned by several oil companies. City Hall settled with the oil companies and is in the process of starting the construction of the treatment plant, lowering the city’s dependency on the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies roughly 80 percent of the water supply.
City Hall hopes to have the facility up and running by 2010.
The two communities stand in contrast to one another — Palmdale is still a community growing with large-scale residential developments popping up; Santa Monica, where development is often objected, is near capacity.
“I’m going from a very high growth community with all this infrastructure planning and development to a more mature community that has a lot of amenities,” Swain said.
The size of the department that Swain will oversee is also much larger — 250 people as opposed to 184 in Palmdale.
There will be at least one division that will be taken off Swain’s hand — the Environmental Programs Division will move to the City Manager’s Office in an effort to coordinate green initiatives better with the rest of City Hall.
Among Swain’s goals is to improve department efficiency and project delivery, providing the amenities the public wants as quickly as possible.
“I will be looking closely at the organization to see what we can do to provide better customer service and delivery of these various public works type services,” Swain said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 4, 2008. Read the original PDF.