CityofSantaBarbara
Source: City of Santa Barbara
The City Council has approved the City Administrator’s appointment of Elias Isaacson as Community Development Director, following a nationwide recruitment process. He is an architect and currently serves as the Planning and Land Use Director for the City of Santa Fe. As Community Development Director, he will oversee planning and development services, building and safety, and housing and human services. The Community Development Department is comprised of 77 employees with a budget totaling $16 million.
Mr. Isaacson joined the City of Santa Fe in 2018, and has led the Planning and Land Use Department since 2019 where he managed 65 employees and implemented the City’s land use, development, and growth management policies. Under his leadership, he streamlined internal procedures and adopted innovative practices and policies despite budget constraints. With the pandemic, they shifted core planning and permitting functions to a completely digital “e-government” model. He also served as Planning and Land Use Director and Interim City Manager for the City of Espanola where he managed the drafting and implementation of a new Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Code revision. Prior to his municipal service, he started a real estate development consulting firm, performing work in the US and abroad. He also has experience working with an architecture firm preparing design and construction documents for the restoration of historic residential properties.
He received a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Wisconsin, a Master’s degree in Urban Design and Development from University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of New Mexico. He is a member of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Elias Isaacson said, “I am very excited to join the great team at the City of Santa Barbara, and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”
According to City Administrator Paul Casey, “Elias will bring the experience and design background that are needed to move the department forward during this pivotal time. I’m confident that he will be a great addition to our leadership team.”
Let me ask this, you work at the CDD for a number of years, your reviews are fantastic, you are promoted and given additional resonsibitlites, you have lived in the community for a number of years, but when it comes time for your ultimate advancement your are passed over. Why ? Why does the City, as well as the county, spend our dollars making sure that their employees are the best only to be passed over in favor of someone from outside the area? If these employees are routinely passed over for positions because they are not qualified, why are they still employed -let them go look at Santa Fe, I hear there’s an opening. This nationwide search is a joke. As an aside what kind of moving and housing incentive is this going to cost? Is the new guy going to work for less money while he has on the job training? City leadership starts at the top, get rid of the current city council next time around
Dont confuse local government for anything but a bureaucratic cesspool. If you’re good at what you do you DO NOT WORK in local government. The ONLY people who work in local government are mediocre or worse, overly educated ‘academics’ who spent 20 years in school in order to learn how to outsource the actual work to capable professionals. This is just a fact of life. No one with ambition or drive or intelligence higher than the mean, works for small city government. No one. So instead of the best, or even slightly better than avg. we’re left with self serving mediocrity that thrives in a bureaucratic environment built to only serve the needs of the bureaucracy… And that’s one of the big reasons why our city spends more than others and gives us less than any other. We’re overtaxed, over staffed and over managed and yet our city is still faltering and flaying. Decades of bad management, ever increasing taxes and expenses should make people wonder if we’re on the right track. But does it? Nope.