By Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer

January 29, 2010 -- Newly hired City Manager Rod Gould knows something about downtowns. He’s helped revitalize central business districts in three of the California cities he’s helped run – Walnut Creek, Monrovia and San Rafael.

And although none of those cities have a downtown as large as Santa Monica’s, the Pittsburg native says they have provided him with the experience to take on the challenges of running one of the most famous shopping and entertainment venues in the world.

“The primary tool was redevelopment,” says Gould, who ran the City of Poway in Northern San Diego County before being tapped for Santa Monica’s top post. “It was a matter of combining parcels, riding down the land value and putting in the right kind of development, usually mixed-use.

“We created improvement districts, in some cases it was using City funds to create public amenities,” Gould adds.

All that should sound familiar to Bayside District officials, who last year celebrated the 20th anniversary of Third Street Promenade, one of the most successful public spaces created by a coming together of business and municipal interests. So should one of the top issues Gould helped tackle in San Rafael – homelessness.

“It was a constant balancing act, making sure we were meeting both goals,” Gould says. “We worked with homeless services providers. I know Santa Monica has struggled with it for many years as it goes out of its way to help the homeless, while also wanting an attractive and safe downtown.

“I’m really taken with Santa Monica’s ability to take on some of the biggest societal issues and do them very well,” he says. “The council has the political will and the City has the resources to do things that other cities simply talk about.”

Gould appreciates the vibrancy of Santa Monica’s Downtown and the people who flood in during the evenings and holidays, lured by its diversity of its shops, restaurants and bars. “Downtowns are important to a community, and I’m glad that Santa Monica takes it so seriously,” he says.

Gould is coming to Santa Monica in time to wrap up the update to the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) of the General Plan that will shape the face of beachfront city for the next quarter century. The document will go through Planning Commission and City Council scrutiny before its adoption later this year.

Development, needs to reflect a community’s values, which vary dramatically between cities, says Gould, who served in the top post at San Rafael and Monrovia for nine and five years, respectively, before running Poway.

“I think that some level of development is necessary to keep the city alive. If you accept the metaphor that cities are living organisms, it doesn’t grow at all if it doesn’t change at all. It begins to die.

“That said,” he adds, “you don’t need a lot of development, you need the right kind of development in the right places under the right conditions with the right public process, and to meet with community approval.”

Gould has long wanted to come to Santa Monica. Four and a half years ago he was recruited for the City’s top staff job, but couldn’t consider the opportunity because he was already deep in the negotiation process for the manager post in Poway. But Gould kept an eye on a city he believes is on the cutting edge.

“Everything I have picked up about Santa Monica has convinced me that it is the most dynamic and interesting City in California at this time,” Gould says. “And that’s saying a lot because there are 480 diverse and interesting cities in our fair state.”

In addition to his experience in City leadership, Gould is a veteran in inter-agency relationships. He has served on the Board of Directors for the League of California Cities, the municipal advocacy group. In addition, he previously headed the League’s City Manager’s Department.

Serving in those positions gave Gould the experience needs to take on the State when it attempts to siphon money from local governments to help bridge its widening budget gap.

“In the past, the Cities just had to take it because we’re lower levels of government, and the state can dictate the terms,” Gould says. “But in the last ten years, we as cities through the League of Cities, have gotten more politically savvy and more assertive.”

When not running a city, Gould enjoys playing tennis, reading, running and “spending quality time with friends.” He has been married to his wife, Rosaline, 21 years. They have two grown children.