It’s Official: Hamilton to Head CCDC

It’s finally official: Pamela Hamilton will become the new head of San Diego’s downtown redevelopment agency.

For Hamilton, 43, who for the last several months has been acting executive director of the Centre City Development Corp., it is the end of a selection process that first had her out of the running, then back in and then, three weeks ago, the top choice but in limbo because of unresolved contract terms.

But that’s changed, as both Hamilton and CCDC board chairman John Davies have reached agreement on the contract, which will be formally proposed for approval to the entire seven-member CCDC board on Friday.

Hamilton will be paid $95,000 annually. As acting executive director, she had been paid $91,000 a year. Before that, as the second-highest-paid official behind former director Gerald Trimble, she earned $76,650. Trimble, who left in February to take a redevelopment job with the University of Southern California, was being paid a salary of $105,300 when he left.

Second Time Around

The proposed new contract is a 1-year “employment agreement.” From then on, the contract can be terminated by either Hamilton or the CCDC board of directors with six months’ notice.

Shortly after Trimble left, the board of directors started to recruit nationwide. In late spring, CCDC’s selection committee, led by Davies, narrowed its choices to three, none of whom was Hamilton.

But, in June, after the top candidate from San Jose dropped out of the running, the recruiting began anew, with Hamilton finishing at the top.

Among other things, Hamilton, who is single and lives in Point Loma, was an urban consultant and worked for the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She was the director of housing and redevelopment in La Mesa from 1978 to 1982.

She attended Florida State University, receiving both undergraduate and graduate degrees there, the latter with highest honors.