‘Band-Aid’ planning draws mixed reviews
CITY HALL — The hunt to fill one of the city’s most high-profile, and at times, controversial jobs kicks into high gear today as the firm hired to find the next director of planning and community development reaches out to qualified candidates through a series of advertisements.
The Mills Group, an Orange County-based search firm hired by City Hall in March, will begin advertising the job’s requirements and qualifications in trade publications and other media outlets across the country, with hopes of having someone for City Manager Lamont Ewell to hire by the beginning of July, said Lisa Mills, president of the firm.
The advertisements come more than a year after former planning director Suzanne Frick resigned in favor of a similar position in Long Beach. The delay in finding her replacement has been met with criticism by business leaders and some council members, who feel a director should be in place as the city overhauls a massive set of laws — known as the Land Use and Circulation Elements of the city’s General Plan — which control how the city will be developed for decades to come. The rewriting of laws, ordinances and zoning codes will affect not only development, but also transportation plans throughout the city.
The plans are currently being developed based on input from the public.
“We really need to get a planning director in place so that we can have someone directing discussions on reforms to zoning laws instead of sticking with this Band-Aid approach,” Councilmember Pam O’Connor said during a recent City Council meeting, during which outdoor dining on the promenade was discussed at length.
It was a goal of former City Manager Susan McCarthy to have a planning director in place before discussions began on the General Plan. But things changed when McCarthy announced her retirement at the end of July 2005, forcing the City Council to postpone the search for a new planning director until McCarthy’s replacement was found.
Ewell has vowed to make the search one of his “top priorities.”
“It is the highest priority in respect to personnel matters,” Ewell said in an interview last week. “It’s high enough for me to be personally working on it.”
In the meantime, Councilman Herb Katz said, “we have all suffered” from the absence of a permanent director.
“Our planning department is completely rudderless,” said Katz, an architect who has worked with city staff on development projects designed by his firm, RTK Architects. “We have many planners who do an excellent job, but there is an attitude that rather than work with the public, they’re butting heads.”
City Hall’s planning department has for years been under fire from many developers, merchants and residents for being over bureaucratic and unresponsive. The department was subjected to an independent audit in 2004 that verified complaints directed at City Hall for being more difficult to navigate than those in neighboring cities.
Through policies and ordinances passed by the City Council over the years, Santa Monica’s zoning codes are often deemed so complex that they invite confrontations between planning staff and customers who have different interpretations of the laws. As a result, development has been controlled by process rather than by a clear set of laws that reflect the community’s vision.
“We need to get someone in there as quickly as possible to set the tone, set a direction,” Katz said. “Susan McCarthy kind of dragged her feet on this and we’ve all suffered for it.”
In Frick’s absence, Andy Agle was promoted from assistant planner to interim planning director.
Agle said the transition “has been smooth,” and no projects have been delayed or placed on hold because of the absence of a permanent leader in the planning department.
“Our staff has been phenomenal, and because of that, everything has been moving along according to schedule,” Agle said.
Katz said Agle “has done fine in the interim — nothing bad and nothing great.”
“He’s kind of just there spinning his wheels,” Katz said.
In searching for the next director, the Mills Group, which conducted the search that brought Ewell to the city, has been meeting with various community stakeholders, including business owners, city staff and elected officials, to find out what qualities they would like the final candidate to possess.
So far, Lisa MIlls has found that Santa Monicans are looking for someone who is a strong leader that understands the public’s desire to move the city forward in a way that protects the environment, enhances the quality of life and adheres to a “smart growth” concept, in which development is pedestrian-friendly, compact, aesthetically pleasing, sustainable and located near public transit.
“A lot of comments also focused on improving customer service,” Mills said. “Some people feel the regulations are a bit cumbersome and would like the new planning director to simplify them or at least change the attitude of staff to help the public get their arms around a lot of these difficult issues.”
According to Mills, the final candidate will have to be politically neutral, accessible and “truly embrace the community to help make better decisions.”
Ewell, who will make the final decision, said he is looking for a “world class” plan-ning director that has a sound technical background, but also someone who understands the community’s desire to grow to a certain scale that blends with the city’s reputation as being a beach community with a more metropolitan feel.
Ewell said he would have liked to have hired San Diego’s former planner, S. Gail Goldberg, a former colleague, however, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa grabbed her before he had the chance. Goldberg is viewed as one of the champions of smart growth.
“In talking with folks, they want to protect the essence of the city as one that is walkable, with moderate growth, and not overly dense,” said Ewell, who feels delaying the review and amendment of the city’s General Plan can’t wait until a new director is in place.
“People have already waited enough,” Ewell said. “It would have been ideal to have a director in place during the Land Use element, and that may or may not happen until the fall. But the important thing is we proceed.”
June 2 is the date for candidates to file with the Mills Group. Interviews with the top candidates should begin around June 9, Mills said.
“We are going to be looking nationwide for candidates who truly enjoy the planning profession and community involvement,” Mills said.
Attracting quality candidates should be easy, considering Santa Monica’s affluence and reputation for sparking new, creative concepts.
“There aren’t many places likes Santa Monica,” Mills said. “It is a city guided by principals, such as protecting the environment and providing affordable housing, and it is always on the cutting edge. That’s something you don’t see in many places.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 8, 2006. Read the original PDF.