|
In This Issue...
|
|
People
|
|
|
Capitola's Jamie Goldstein Tapped for City Manager
|
|
Capitola's Jamie Goldstein Tapped for City Manager
By Linda Fridy
Current Capitola City Manager Rich Hill does not plan to retire until July, but the city has already found someone to take his place. The City Council will be asked as soon as Jan. 28 to approve a contract for Jamie Goldstein, who joined the city staff as community development director in fall 2008.
"I'm very honored," he said. "It was an opportunity I did not anticipate when I took [my current] job."
Goldstein will not leave behind his roots in planning and redevelopment when he takes over as Capitola's city manager this summer. He said that land use issues remain important to the seaside community and that is part of what made him decide to take on the new position.
"I am passionate about land use and planning. The big projects in this city revolve around those issues," he said.
A number of those issues involve land owned by the city itself.
Rispin Property Still a Question
The six-acre former Rispin property along Soquel Creek remains one of the city's big land use debates.
A decade-old plan to develop a boutique hotel there fell apart in 2009 when developers partnering with the city could not secure financing. Goldstein said some council members would still like to see a hotel project at the site, but in the meantime the property is being considered as a possible location for a permanent library, along with the current location across the street on Wharf Road.
Goldstein said he thinks parking and environmental issues may make the Rispin side of the street less appropriate for a library.
He is also not likely to advocate that the city spend all its redevelopment money on that project. Some money is earmarked for a library, but he would like to see the $3 million that was set aside for the hotel used for other projects.
"It could be a down payment on an economic development strategy, a tool to leverage private investment," he said. "I would look toward projects on 41st Avenue and infrastructure issues."
That does not mean he would like to see the Rispin property remain in its current state. He agrees with a resident who recently advocated for a project there that would provide more "eyes and ears" in an area that has been a magnet for trouble.
What would he like to see there?
"It would be a lot of fun planning a state-of the-art park there using state-of-the-art fiscal planning," he said, noting that there may be a use for all the crumbling concrete.
And he would consider selling off a portion of it to finance improvements on the rest of the land.
Starting Over with Jade Street?
Another ongoing issue in the city is the future of Jade Street Park.
The Soquel Union Elementary School District owns the 10-acre parcel, but has leased it to the city for decades. That partnership turned sour when the district began talks of building a school at the site, leading to court battles.
Many residents don't want to lose the popular recreation area and have advocated purchasing the land from the school district, but the district has made it clear it does not want to give up the only parcel in the city where it could build a school.
Both sides have made tentative gestures of reconciliation in the last year, although some council members remain opposed to current plans to use a portion of the park to house a preschool.
Goldstein hopes that his appointment could be a catalyst for improved relations.
"I would like to work more closely with them and develop a more open dialogue," he said. "Schools are an important part of any great city."
City Hall and Parking
The city's other big chunk of land sits right by the Village, occupied by City Hall, a parking lot and the Pacific Cove Mobile Home Park.
The city just received a grant-funded report with suggestions of how to use the land that surprised many people with its scope.
"It goes in some directions we hadn't thought of," said Goldstein, by suggesting that the area could be developed in a multi-use structure incorporating municipal, parking and retail or visitor uses, perhaps even a convention center or meeting space.
The biggest hurdle? Traffic.
"Clearly the traffic flow problem would have to be addressed," he said.
He admitted to interest in a suggestion floated before his arrival for a roundabout at the intersection of Bay Avenue and Capitola Avenue.
He's seen that solution work in Santa Barbara, and said the intersection – and the difficulty in seeing pedestrians crossing – was one of the first things he noticed when he came to town.
The City Hall study will be followed by one looking specifically at multi-level parking options for the Pacific Cove lot, this one funded by another $40,000 grant. Goldstein said the push for more parking comes from the state, rather than city needs.
"There are a lot of days out of the year that we have empty spaces [in the Pacific Cove lot]," he said.
The problem is that the city lies within California's Coastal Zone, and the Coastal Commission has mandated that more parking be added to accommodate development.
"With that state agency looking over our shoulder, it pushes us down this path," he said.
Will the City Fill His Job?
When Goldstein moves into the city's top administrative spot, Capitola will have neither a finance director nor a community development director. He said his priority would be to fill the development position to help oversee the many mobile home park concerns, redevelopment projects and General Plan preparation.
"I'd rather go without a finance director. The finance staff is top-notch right now," he said.
The city hired former Scotts Valley City Manager Chuck Comstock to help prepare the current year's budget when Lauren Lai moved into the finance position in Marina in February 2008, but did not try to find a permanent finance director as a cost-saving effort.
Goldstein recommended that the city try to fill the development spot by January 2011 at a recent city council planning session.
Goldstein grew up in Palo Alto, but came to Capitola from Santa Barbara County. He had been deputy director of the redevelopment agency there. An avid surfer and bicyclist, he said when he first joined the city staff that he and his wife welcomed the chance to raise their young son nearer family in the Bay Area.
The city opted for a relatively low-key, regional recruitment and got a strong pool of applicants, Hill said.
"We had four excellent candidates," he said of the finalists, each of whom was interviewed in early January.
Hill said he gave the city ample notice on his retirement plans to allow plenty of time for recruitment and transition. And he thinks the new city manager will have a great job.
"Capitola is an outstanding city and community, and I'd recommend it to anyone," he said.
Goldstein agrees.
"I'm confident we have a great team here in the staff and city council," he said.
Hill came to Capitola in 2001.
|
