6 Finalists for L.A. Planning Chief Named

A San Bernardino County planning administrator tops a list six of finalists being considered to head Los Angeles’ Planning Department, it was announced Wednesday.

Other candidates include planning directors from Phoenix, Houston and Pittsburgh, Pa., as well as two veteran City Hall administrators.

The long-awaited list, from which Mayor Tom Bradley is expected to choose a director in coming weeks, did not include some of the names most often mentioned for the job and, some observers noted, lacked any nationally renowned urban planners.

Satisfaction Expressed

Major City Hall officials, including City Council President Pat Russell and Planning Commission President Dan Garcia, expressed satisfaction with the results of the nationwide search for a successor to retiring Planning Director Calvin Hamilton. But others were disappointed.

“I’m not satisfied,” Councilman Marvin Braude said. “There are some good people . . . but I would have liked to have seen someone with a national reputation, someone really outstanding.” He suggested that the pay--$86,000 to $96,000 per year--and the “complicated, fragmented political situation” in the city may have discouraged some candidates.

The selection of the planning director has special political significance because of crucial issues facing the city about the amount and location of future development.

At a time when development interests--a major source of campaign contributions--have greatly increased their influence over City Hall decision-making, there have been strong counterforces to limit growth, reflected by a proposed initiative that would cut in half the size of buildings allowed on much of the commercial property in the city.

Also, as a result of a lawsuit won by homeowners groups, the Planning Department is struggling to rezone hundreds of thousands of parcels to bring them into conformance with more limiting provisions of the city’s General Plan.

In addition, there are a number of council-initiated studies under way to re-evaluate what the role and power of the Planning Department should be in relation to the huge Community Redevelopment Agency, which has often clashed with the Planning Department.

Can Play Key Role

While the City Council and mayor ultimately decide on development matters, the planning director can play a key role in the process through his analyses and recommendations.

The finalists, in the order that they were ranked by two interview boards of professional planners, architects, academics from the planning field and homeowner representatives:

- Kenneth Topping, 50, deputy administrator of development services for San Bernardino County. Topping, who supervises planning and two other departments, has overseen the rapid development of the county’s unincorporated areas over the past several years.

- Richard Counts, 45, planning director of Phoenix who has pushed a so-called “urban village” concept of planning that gives a large share of autonomy in development to various regions of the city.

- Efraim Garcia, 54, planning director of Houston who has emphasized economic development in low-income areas of city.

- Kei Uyeda, 53, who worked his way up from planning assistant to the No. 2 slot in the Planning Department. Hamilton’s right-hand man, he keeps a low profile but has earned respect for being, as one City Hall staffer said, “one of the people you call if you’re stuck. He knows how to get things done.”

- Robert Lurcott, 47, planning director of Pittsburgh who has guided a major effort to revitalize that city’s downtown with new high-rise commercial buildings.

- Douglas Ford, 40, general manager of the Los Angeles Community Development Department. A former planner in St. Paul, Minn., and past planning director in Inglewood, Ford has overseen city investments in low-income housing units and such economic revitalization projects as the Crenshaw Shopping Center.