The Gift of Grant

If any one person deserves credit for the excellent place Thousand Oaks has become, it is longtime City Manager Grant Brimhall.

For two decades, under a series of contentious city councils, he has guided Thousand Oaks as it grew from a sleepy, little village of shade trees and horses into Ventura County’s richest, best-educated and safest city, with a first-class library, an impressive Civic Arts Plaza, enviable facilities for the young and the old--and shade trees and horses still.

Brimhall, 60, returned to work Tuesday morning after two months recuperating from quintuple-bypass heart surgery. Tuesday night he told the City Council he plans to retire on Valentine’s Day.

He and his wife, Avis, want to resume missionary work for the Mormon church, travel and spend more time together.

“My wonderful wife, our children and our grandchildren have all requested that I come home, that I hang up my city manager’s hat, that I commit to a change of venue,” he told the council members. “In short, that I retire.”

Thus ends a remarkable era for Thousand Oaks and begins a challenging new one. Finding a replacement with Brimhall’s balance of vision, compassion and political savvy will be neither easy nor quick. The search can only be complicated by the City Council’s deep rift and the already roiling campaign.

Fortunately, Brimhall is leaving not only a thriving city but a solid staff. Assistant City Manager MaryJane Lazz has kept the wheels turning during his absence and could no doubt do the same while longer-range decisions are made.

Few public servants have contributed as much to the shaping of a city. We join the people of Thousand Oaks in offering Grant Brimhall profound thanks, good health and best wishes.