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New Redevelopment Chief Sought After Oceanside Demotes Old One

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Times Staff Writer

Oceanside city officials are searching for a new redevelopment director and expect to make a selection as early as August, City Manager Ron Bradley said.

Bradley said Tuesday that a professional firm will be used to conduct the search for someone who is an “experienced professional, especially in negotiating large-scale projects.”

Bradley, whose demotion of former redevelopment director Patricia Hightman became public last week, said the redevelopment agency needed new direction.

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“Pat and I made a decision, and I’m going to stick with it,” Bradley said. “I just thought that we needed some new and fresh leadership.”

Demoted to Former Job

Hightman, who held the $54,000-a-year post more than two years, was demoted to her former position as assistant for the agency, which she had held for eight years.

The exact reasons for the demotion were not disclosed.

Hightman declined to comment on the reasons for the move except to say: “It is with regret that I resume my former position.” She added that she would work in her reassigned post with “diligence, loyalty and love that have marked my 10 years of service to this city.”

Bradley said he was pleased about Hightman staying on as an assistant. Hightman replaced Margueretta Gulati, who was credited with leading the city’s budding urban renewal effort during her six-year tenure. Gulati left the position in January, 1987, to take a similar post that paid more in Riverside.

Hightman said she replaced Gulati with the intention of completing policies established by her. Among them were the downtown beach and parking program and the relocation of the railroad switching yard from downtown to a site on Camp Pendleton.

“I feel that I have lived up to those promises in finalizing many programs initiated and planned for,” she said.

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Hightman’s tenure, though, did suffer setbacks.

Stalled attempts of a developer to find financing for a $30-million hotel-resort complex near the city’s harbor had disappointed city officials. But, after months of seeking a new developer for the project, the city has begun negotiations with a Carlsbad developer.

Hightman mentioned the finding of the new developer as one of her successes.

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