Manager Hopes His Openness Will Stop Revolving Door

Patrick Importuna hopes the revolving door at the Lawndale city manager’s office will stop spinning now that he has arrived.

The 45-year-old former deputy city manager of Garden Grove has taken over Lawndale’s top administrative position, making him the city’s seventh city manager in nine years.

“I believe Lawndale’s gain is our loss,” said Frank Kessler, a Garden Grove city councilman. “He’s a competent administrator who possesses a tremendous amount of know-how about city government.”

Importuna replaced John Nowak, who resigned in June after a year and a half in office amid controversy about his management style and a new city trash hauling contract. Tom Devereux served as acting city manager for four months until Importuna took over Oct. 19.

Management style may have been Nowak’s downfall, but it is Importuna’s forte, according to his former colleagues.

Importuna mastered the workings of city government as community development director for Alhambra and Lynwood before going to Garden Grove. He spent a total of seven years in Garden Grove, serving in several positions before becoming deputy city manager four years ago. He also has worked in the private sector as a vice president for a commercial development company in Alhambra.

In accepting his new job, Importuna took a cut in pay. As Lawndale city manager, he will earn $85,000 a year--down from $90,000 a year in Garden Grove.

“Money is not everything,” he said. “I felt the position was more important.”

Importuna will manage a staff of about 90 employees compared to about 900 in Garden Grove. Lawndale has 27,000 residents and an annual budget of $8 million, while Garden Grove has 145,000 residents and an $88-million budget.

“It’s more hands-on over here,” Importuna said of Lawndale. “You don’t have the luxury of a large staff, analysts or aides to assist you. This is truly a roll-up-your-sleeves job.

“The smaller the community, the more complex the issues because every penny must be properly placed and there is no room for margin.”

Importuna said he prides himself on “being an open book,” and it is this quality that endeared him to the Lawndale City Council.

“He’s the type of guy with an open-door policy that will be able to communicate with the council, staff and public,” Councilman Larry Rudolph said. Councilwoman Nancy Marthens said she was impressed with his attitude about public involvement.

“His feeling was that we all work for the community. They are the boss,” she said.

According to Marthens, the city manager position has had a high turnover because past managers were too politically active, sometimes siding with council factions and other times ignoring the wishes of the community.

“This is a politically active community with a lot of citizen involvement,” Marthens said. “There is a high regard for accountability. One cannot come into (the city manager) position and be invisible.”

Council members said previous city managers had catered to a vocal majority of the council to the point of excluding the others.

“I think we’ve had some (city managers) that wanted to get on the political end of things,” Mayor Harold Hoffman said. “It’s a hard job. You have five bosses and you have to treat all five equally.”

Garden Grove Mayor Walt Donovan said Importuna handled dissension at his previous job with tact.

“We had a council that was divided many times, and he was accommodating to all of them,” Donovan said. “He is not gregarious but always willing to help out.”