Agle Tapped as Interim Planning Director

By Jorge Casuso

March 18 -- Andy Agle, the City’s assistant director of Planning and Community Development, will take over the reins of the embattled department while a permanent replacement for outgoing director Suzanne Frick is found, The Lookout has learned.

Agle’s appointment comes less than one week after Frick submitted her resignation effective April 30 to head the Planning Department in Long Beach, the state’s fifth largest City.

“He strikes me as being intelligent and thoughtful,” said Mayor Pam O’Connor. “Even in an interim position, it’s a challenging job in Santa Monica, and I think he has the energy to go for it.

“He has been there as the right hand person and lead in a number of large projects,” O’Connor said. “He certainly knows the agency.”

Agle, who has been with the City’s Planning Department for seven years, has been the lead planner in the proposed redevelopment of Santa Monica Place, which is in the midst of a public process that will likely take more than a year to conclude.

Agle also has been a key player in the ongoing effort to update the land use and circulation elements of the City’s General Plan, documents that will guide the development of Santa Monica for decades to come.

“I think that my biggest priority is that the major work efforts we have underway right now, that we continue to make progress,” Agle said.

“We’ve got a great staff working on the different major work projects,” he said. “I have a lot of confidence in our ability to move forward.”

In addition to Macerich and the update to the General Plan, the department recently embarked on a plan to improve its plan check, permitting and inspection processes, which have long drawn fire from developers frustrated by red tape.

The results of an audit released last July found that the department suffered from staffing shortages and high turnover and was riddled with inefficiencies. It also suggested there is a contentious relationship between staff and the various City boards and commissions they work with almost daily.

Agle started out as an administrative services officer before being promoted to second in command. Before coming to Santa Monica, he worked for Anaheim’s Redevelopment Agency for five years.

City Manager Susan McCarthy is expected to embark soon on a search for Frick's permanent replacement. The search will likely draw candidates from across the nation, Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson said last week.