Roeder interested in Anaheim job

Lolita Harper and Byron de Arakal

COSTA MESA -- City Manager Allan Roeder said this week that he would

not rule out applying for the open Anaheim city manager post if that city

decides to launch an outside search for candidates.

“I would have an interest,” said Roeder, 50, who has been Costa Mesa’s

city manager since 1985. But he cautioned that it is premature to even

consider such a move because Anaheim officials have yet to decide how to

replace City Manager James Ruth.

Ruth’s effective date of retirement will be Dec. 28, Anaheim spokesman

John Nicoletti said.

“I’m sure they’re going through a decision-making process,” Roeder

said. “Jim’s built a terrific team over there. I think they’ll probably

take a look at the team they have in place and where they want to go.

They’ll decide if they’ve got the people inside to do that or need to

look outside.”

A representative for Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said Monday that the

Anaheim City Council will make that decision within two weeks.

Roeder, who has spent his entire professional career in Costa Mesa,

said that whatever interest he may have in exploring the Anaheim city

manager slot does not mean he’s dissatisfied with his current position.

“I don’t want people to think that I don’ like it here anymore,” he

said. “I love this community.”

Nevertheless, the Anaheim city manager’s office has national appeal,

he said, and is a post that has been attractive to him for some time.

“This has popped up before,” he said.

“During one of my performance reviews, [former Councilman] Joe

Erickson once asked me if I was happy where I am,” Roeder said. “I told

him absolutely, [but that if] I was to look somewhere else I would want

to stay in Orange County, and that Anaheim is the only real city I’d be

interested in.”

Roeder said Anaheim and Costa Mesa are similar, but that Anaheim has

some distinct differences that make it attractive.

“It’s a larger city that has its own utilities, and there is the

obvious draw of the professional sports component,” he said.

Not only home to the Angels and the Mighty Ducks, who play at Edison

Field and Arrowhead Pond, respectively, Anaheim houses other large

entertainment centers, such as Anaheim Convention Center, Disneyland

Resort and the Anaheim resort.

“The most unique thing about Anaheim is the large number of visitors

per year,” Nicoletti said.

The city manager position in Anaheim is matchless in Orange County

because it also encompasses overseeing every aspect of the city-owned

public utilities, from the level of service to dependability to

maintenance, Nicoletti said.

Anaheim is the largest city in Orange County by area at 50 square

miles and is home to about 330,000 people. By contrast, Costa Mesa has a

population of about 104,000 and covers 16 square miles. Roeder heads a

city with a budget of about $90 million, compared with Anaheim’s budget

of about $960 million.

Costa Mesa Mayor Libby Cowan called the Anaheim city manager a “plum

position” and said she wouldn’t be shocked if Roeder was offered the job.

“Allan has an incredible reputation as a city manager and problem

solver. It’s no doubt his name would surface as a potential replacement,”

Cowan said.

Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan said he would be surprised if

Roeder didn’t pursue the Anaheim position should it be opened to outside

candidates.

“I would think that if there’s one job that Allan would be interested

in, that would be it,” Monahan said. “He’d be great at that job, and I’d

support him 100%.”

Monahan said the timing might be right too.

“Once we get past Home Ranch, there isn’t going to be a lot left for

him to do,” he said.

Erickson, who worked with Roeder for nearly a decade, said he would be

greatly missed and hard to replace.

Erickson added that Roeder’s work was more of a passion than a job,

noting Roeder would often refuse pay increases even when the City Council

had approved them.

Roeder is also universally praised in the Orange County community as

an outstanding city manager.

“Allan is one of the real professionals in the city manager world,”

said David Ellis, spokesman for the Airport Working Group. “He’s top

notch.”

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau, who said he is “happy where

I’m at” and has no interest in the Anaheim post, praised Roeder’s style

and professionalism.

“I have a lot of respect for Allan,” Bludau said. “He’s thoughtful,

rational and he’s a conciliator. He doesn’t play games. With Allan, what

you see is what you get. He certainly has the professional expertise for

that job.’

Roeder came to Costa Mesa in 1974 as an unpaid intern, working his way

up from being a “low-paid grunt” to city manager. He served as a deputy

under former City Manager Fred Sorsabal, who resigned the post in 1985.

That’s when Roeder took over the city’s administrative helm.

“If Anaheim really wanted him and he served there, he would do a great

job,” Erickson said.

-- Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

Byron de Arakal writes a Pilot columnist who lives in Costa Mesa.

Readers may reach him with news tips and comments via e-mail at o7

[email protected] .