City Hires Susan Alanis As New Planning Director
by Kevin BuchananIt’s official - Susan Alanis is your new planning director. From the city’s web site:
City Manager Dale Fisseler has appointed Susan Alanis as director of Fort Worth’s Planning and Development Department, replacing Fernando Costa who recently was tapped as one of the city’s five assistant city managers.
A number of things strike me as curious about this decision; for example, Alanis’ lack of actual urban planning experience:
Most recently serving as acting director of the Planning and Development Department, Alanis joined the city in 1996 as a budget analyst, moving to the Police Department in 1999 to manage administrative services and to become the department’s first civilian assistant director. She was named deputy director of the Development Department in 2006 and was instrumental in merging the Planning and Development departments in 2007.
This concerns me, because under previous Planning & Development Director (and new Assistant City Manager) Fernando Costa, Fort Worth made remarkable strides towards rebuilding its central city and promoting smart urban development. Costa was instrumental in sparking the revitalization of areas like the Near Southside and Six Points, and his work started the city on a path away from continued emphasis on suburban sprawl towards walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods in the central city.
Costa has the background to back up his rep: he worked in city planning in Georgia for 22 years before coming to Fort Worth in 1998. Eleven of those years were spent as planning director of the city of Atlanta, a role which saw him promote and enable the New Urbanism in that city as well.
Alanis, on the other hand, joined the city as a budget analyst. Her major accomplishments in the Planning & Development Department seem to be things like new field computers for inspectors, and an online permitting system. Nothing wrong with that, but still a far cry from Costa’s track record of smart urban development experience. With the city now on the path towards real urban revitalization all around the core and working to counteract the negatives of sprawl, is it wise to appoint a planning director with no apparent planning experience?
There’s more to this tale, though, than just questions of qualification.
It’s been brought to my attention by sources within the city that when his promotion to Assistant City Manager was revealed, Costa made it known to the Planning & Development Department that a nationwide search would be conducted for a new Planning Director to replace him. Soon after, however, everything went silent. Nothing further was heard from city officials about a nationwide search, and no talk of who was being considered for the job was heard internally. Personally, I got a lot of curious e-mails from fellow citizens asking me what I’d been hearing about the job - and apparently, the actual affected departments were just as out of the loop as the rest of us were.
We’ve all heard about the “don’t rock the boat” attitude around City Hall (often with all fingers pointing back to Mayor Moncrief). If all this is true, what could possibly be the motivation for stopping a nationwide search for a great successor to Fernando Costa? And why appoint a planning director without actual planning experience, especially with the city growing by leaps and bounds?
I’m not trying to come down on Ms. Alanis. I’m sure she is a fine person, and I have no beef with her personally. She may well turn out to be a fine planning director. I’m just saying - this whole affair has been rather bizarrely handled, and I’d love to know why.
Tags: city, Fernando Costa, government, Mayor, planning, Susan Alanis, urban
7 Comments, Comments or Pings
John Peter Smith
Kevin:
To mean the answer is that Fernando Costa intends to continue running the Planning Department as Assistant City Manager. Therefore the city hired a number cruncher to implement Costa’s plans.
I deal with a number of city governments around the metroplex and I’ve see this type of thing done numerous times. Whenever someone is promoted and then their assistant is hired to replace them that is usually what it means.
May 14th, 2008
Park Land
Mr. Smith, you may imply that you deal with circus clowns on a daily basis; that doesn’t make you an authority on hair dye.
Being from outside Fort Worth looking in, the fact that Mr. Costa planned for a nationwide open search which was subsequently and abruptly halted seems hardly supportive evidence to your theory. The logical conclusion is that others involved were calling the shots, perhaps the City Manager or the Mayor who is very closely tied to the gas wells around Fort Worth; a cause Ms. Alanis has reportedly been instrumental in.
At any rate, it seems very suspicious that City Charter and procedure would be suspended to promote someone internally when such a decision could be contested in court or, at the very least, scrutinized to the point of rendering her distracted.
Welcome to the big game, Fort Worth!
May 14th, 2008
Jeremy
Why not try and get Susan Alanis on here to tell us all her plans and opinions? Is she for or against urban renewal? Does she have any experience that we are not aware of? Is she planning on continuing on with what Mr. Costa started?
I just want to give her a fair chance out of the gate…
May 15th, 2008
John Peter Smith
Mr. Land:
Prior to him becoming Asst. City Manager, Mr. Costa was able to convince the council to merge the Development Department with his own Planning Department, all under his control. This was a major victory for Mr. Costa in the internal power struggles at city hall. Before his arrival the Planning Department was pretty much dismissed by everyone as simply dreamers that made colored maps. The reason I mention that is not to impress anyone with my inside knowledge (I have none), but to illustrate that Fernando Costa is one of the major powers at city hall and has been consolidating his power since his arrival.
Never underestimate the pettiness of bureaucrats or their penchant for micromanagement. If the Planning Department doesn’t have a leader with “vision” then the reason is most likely that the last guy wants his vision implemented.
As far as suspending the City Charter, are you sure about that? I’m pretty sure the charter allows the City Manager to hire pretty much anyone he chooses.
May 15th, 2008
Greg Hughes
When I raised the issue privately at a Town Hall meeting tonight I was assured by a City Council Aid who is usually very informed that “…there WAS a nation wide search.”
Not sure where they looked, but they missed an excellent candidate already on staff. Of course, her depth of understanding and clear thinking would make her dangerous in an autocracy.
May 19th, 2008
D H Burnham
Strictly speaking, any individual who holds the title Director of Planning for the City of Fort Worth should be certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). This is the only recognized professional certification in the planning profession. Costa is not only AICP, but he was elevated to Fellow of AICP (FAICP) in 2008. The American Planning Association (APA) does show Ms. Alanis as a member, but in reality anyone can join APA - it is not a certifying organization; rather, AICP (a subset of APA) is the key organization to be part of. And you can only be AICP certified if you pass the exam and maintain your certification with annual continuing education.
It is also telling to chart the history of city planning in FW. The Planning Department has never really come into its own. In the last 30 years, it has been the Planning & Development Dept., then split into a separate Planning Dept., then morphed into the Planning & Growth Management Dept., and (back to the future), rejoined as the Planning & Development Dept. again. It has had its share of different leaders - some strong like Costa and James Toal. Others, including Stephen Ondrejas (early 1980’s), Emil Moncivais, and Bruce McClendon, were more in a caretaker role of the department but never promoted planning as strong as it could have been.
Someone has to stand up to David Schwarz and the Bass interests and lead FW in the appropriate direction. Having a wealthy patriarchal family that cares about the City is great. But the City also needs talented creative professionals to create the next generation of development.
Jul 15th, 2008
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