SERVING BRENTWOOD The New City Manager Is Getting Down to Business
	JUNE 2005

by Donna Landeros
Photos by Russell Byrne

I frankly admit to people that I’m a “local government nut.” Even though I’ve served county and city governments for years, I was never interested in politics just for politics sake. I arrived at my present position as City Manager for Brentwood through a passionate concern for community service. Ever since I was a child I’ve known that public service was what I was going to do; I never seriously considered another option. After 34 years of working in local government, I still believe it was the best choice for me. I love what I do. If I had my professional life to live over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.

The most critical part of my job involves taking care of the part of public service where minutes matter. Fire response, police response, and other emergency services consume a major part of my core focus. At the other end of the spectrum, I work on long-range planning issues, such as development plans and the City’s urban limit line. I love finding the balance between attending to our short-response public safety concerns while managing long-range development projects.

Milestones on my Professional Journey
I was raised in Santa Paula, a small town in Ventura County. Following my graduation from UCLA with a degree in Sociology, I went to work for LA County in the Welfare Department, and then moved up to Parks and Recreation. By the time I left Southern California I was managing all the parks in East LA, Bell Gardens, and Whittier. I loved Parks and Rec! My service there was challenging, but very rewarding. People are passionate about the services that Parks and Rec provides because it touches families. Everything from youth sports to municipal senior centers brings community members together and occupies them with worthwhile activities. Parks and Rec provides something for everybody.

My job satisfaction was finally overwhelmed by the incredible gang violence that was prevalent in East Los Angeles. During one summer in particular, we experienced a series of horribly violent events. Things finally came to a head for me personally when the owner of a restaurant was killed right before my eyes while my husband and I were having dinner.

After that we decided to explore life in Northern California. We bought 15 acres right near Lake Oroville and I went to work in the Butte County Personnel Office. I spent 12 years working my way up the ranks in the county offices until I was promoted to Deputy County Administrator. I took the next step in my career in Yolo County where I spent six years as County Administrator.

After 25 years in County government I wanted to see what city government was like, so I took the position as City Manager for Ventura. This was a homecoming, since Ventura was 10 miles from where I had been raised. My parents still lived there and I was able to help them as they faced the difficult health issues of aging. I spent nine years as City Manager of Ventura.

Leveraging Experience for the Public Good
I moved from Ventura to Brentwood in December and began working as the City Manager in January 2005. I am a native Californian and I thought I had been everywhere in California, but I had never been to Brentwood. I drove to Brentwood one afternoon when the sun was setting behind Mount Diablo. My brother and his family have lived in Lafayette for many years so I am very familiar with the other side of Mount Diablo. I was so impressed with the quality of life in Brentwood – the parks, trails, schools, quaint downtown, new housing, street landscaping, and neighborhood shopping centers. I called the recruiter and told him that I was absolutely interested in the job. I was so sure that my husband would like Brentwood that I accepted the job without him even visiting! I was right, and he feels the same way I do about Brentwood.

Another thing that attracted me to Brentwood was the difference in the rate of development. Ventura is a built-out city so the pace of growth as outlined in Brentwood’s General Plan challenges me. Working for the City of Brentwood is exciting for all of the staff because we have a unique opportunity to help shape the future of the community. This is a rare experience in California.

But the two cities share some remarkable similarities, as well, which means I’ve brought some helpful experience with me., For example, Ventura had adopted a downtown specific plan, just as the City of Brentwood is doing. I spent 9 years implementing Ventura’s Downtown Plan and saw the transformation brought about by the plan. The same person is working on Brentwood’s Downtown Plan so that is a happy coincidence because I am truly a believer in his approach.

My City Manager position in Ventura has actually provided me a great deal of important experience for my service in Brentwood. We had some tremendous successes and also a few failures. Both success and failure over the years have taught me valuable lessons for my work in the service of Brentwood. I intend to pursue some of the projects that Ventura undertook that I can see, in retrospect, provided great benefits to the community. An example is the cultural affairs in Ventura. The City initiated an arts program which greatly contributed to the vitality of the City. The public art program has created exciting projects such as a mural in a library that wraps completely around the building, above the stacks and captures the essence of the neighborhood history. We also created a municipal art gallery featuring pieces from local artists. The art is displayed in the corridors of City Hall for everyone to enjoy.

Two projects in particular that are of great value to Ventura included the development of a downtown multiplex cinema and a parking structure, similar to the ones being suggested for Brentwood. The City of Ventura had a very positive experience with those two developments; they really did help transform and energize the downtown and turned me into a believer.

Planning for Success
Unlike Brentwood, Ventura is now a “built-out city,” which means there will be few Ventura housing starts. Brentwood’s General Plan build-out will take place in 10 to 15 years. We need to have in place a plan for financial solvency before that happens; we need to be planning for the long-term financial stability of the new city that Brentwood will become over the next decade, or so. Developing such a plan interests me.

I am a great believer in plans; they keep me abreast of what I really need to work on. I’m really excited about the new City Hall project, for example. We want to coordinate this development with the downtown specific plan that will be finished this summer. At that point we will make final recommendations for City Hall and begin moving towards construction. The City Hall will be a vital part of the community for many years to come.

The City of Brentwood has a great General Plan, which provides an infrastructure to support appropriate community development. Brentwood is currently engaged in development projects that are set out in the general plan. The General Plan is in place so I’m focusing on the emerging Downtown Plan, as well as the Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan.

A citizens’ group is working on plans for the community facilities they would like to see in the City at build-out, including a library, a senior facility, a cultural center, and a downtown art gallery. Recommendations from that group will be considered by the Council and folded into the planning for the City’s future.

We’re all looking forward to completion of the regional transportation improvements that are currently in process. The current projects include Vasco Road, Highway 4, and the Highway 4 Bypass. We plan to revitalize the whole Brentwood Boulevard corridor which will be studied as part of the Brentwood Boulevard Specific Plan.

Brentwood is also constructing a number of internal transportation improvements — including major developments of Ohara Avenue, Empire Avenue, and Shady Willow Lane. Central Boulevard and Fairview Avenue are both being widened.

One of the most exciting projects is the Vineyards at Marsh Creek Development. There is a site for the relocation of Los Medanos College, as well as a 5,000-seat amphitheater that we hope will help transform the area’s performing arts. We are also pushing for the upgrade of the John Marsh House. We have applied for four million dollars of state money. The City has been a leader in preserving the Marsh house and the development of the State Park.

Working Hard, Working Smart, Having Fun
I’m having a great time with all this. I’m facing challenges in pushing all the projects forward that the city is responsible for. Not one of these things is an easy slam-dunk, but I’m undaunted by change and challenge. We have a strong council. The members get along well; they all share a strong vision.

I’m particularly pleased by the strong core staff we have in place. The city has had the foresight of making compensation sufficiently high to attract quality personnel. “Success breeds success,” they say. Everyone likes to be associated with something that really works and Brentwood has the kind of municipal track record that can lure top staff away from other cities. As a result, we have a wealth of talent and experience working for the city. City employees buy in to the vision and many of them are here because they really do want to play a part in making this happen.

My husband and I are still settling in. We are purchasing a house in Brentwood while my husband finishes his teaching assignment in Ventura County. Our 23-year-old son, just graduated from Pratt Institute in NY with a degree in computer graphics and animation. He is looking for his first job in the video game industry so he may also be in Northern California. We all love dogs. The current family pet is a Shih Tzu who will enjoy the walking trails in our new neighborhood.

I’m here in Brentwood for the long haul. I’m grateful for the longevity that I enjoyed in my previous manager positions, which has averaged a lot longer than the four-year average reported tenure for people in this position. I told the council that I hope to stay In Brentwood a minimum of five years. But the fact is that I hope to stay around much longer than that. I want to see how this wonderful story ends.

I try to keep in touch with people. I read every email that I receive. I do the very thing I sometimes criticize my staff for. If I answer an email from one of them in the evening, I don’t want them to respond until the next day. “Go to bed,” I tell them. “Let this wait for morning!” Of course I forgive them and understand that they simply share my passion for making things work.

So let me know what you think. I can’t promise that I will respond to your opinion or suggestion — let alone actually implement it in some way. However, I promise to at least listen to you! I'm good at that!