Jacobs, Williams make town hall a full house
Town fills long-vacant management openings
By Gloria I. Wang
Los Gatos finally has a full house in its town hall, with two long-vacant management positions being filled simultaneously.
On May 6, Pamela Jacobs will become the new assistant town manager and Tom Williams becomes the assistant director of community development.
Jacobs, an Aptos resident, replaces Jim Piper, who took another job in November 2001. Millbrae resident Williams replaces Bud Lortz, who was formally promoted to director of community development in February 2001.
Jacobs, 48, left her position as assistant to the city manager in San Jose partly because of the chance to work again with Town Manager Debra Figone. When Figone was the assistant city manager in San Jose, she and Jacobs worked "very closely" together on a program that focused on the city's performance and delivery to customers.
"We were the team that worked on the program that I subsequently led," Jacobs said. "You couldn't ask for better than to go into a working relationship where you already know you make a great team."
Figone and Jacobs have kept in touch through the years. Figone attended Jacobs' wedding in 1996, and Jacobs contacted Figone after her move to Los Gatos in 2000 to "find out how it was going, find out how much she loved it, which she really does," Jacobs said.
Figone told Jacobs about the close relationship between the town council and administration, and about the community's commitment to retaining its small-town character.
"I've been in a big city for about 15 years, but I never intended to be in a big city," Jacobs said. "I've always been attracted to either rural areas or small areas."
"I'm not brand-new to everything here," Jacobs added, mentioning that she knew Orry Korb and Marty Woodworth in San Jose before they became Los Gatos' town attorney and redevelopment agency manager, respectively.
As assistant town manager, Jacobs says she will head up the Los Gatos Civic Center/Library project and an information technology master plan, which will work on communication inside the organization and allow her to draw on her experience as San Jose's telecommunications policy manager.
Figone says Jacobs has the "outstanding municipal experience" that makes her a match for the position, as well as project managing skills, a background in organizational development and the ability to build relationships with groups and people.
In addition to being the town manager's "second in command and right hand," Figone says, Jacobs will handle the day-to-day operations of the town and the details of programs and issues.
Jacobs is an "outstanding listener" who is reserved but much fun to be around, Figone says. "I think that she'll be a great addition to the team."
Jacobs graduated from Kent State University in Ohio with a degree in social work, then earned a master's degree in city planning from UC-Berkeley. Before coming to San Jose, she worked for the nonprofit public policy organization Bay Area Council and spent nine months traveling in southeast Asia.
She and husband Tom, who has three daughters from a previous marriage, love to travel, most often to France. According to Jacobs, she is a "voracious reader" whom others call "very genuine and down to earth." There was a sign in her office in San Jose that read "Because nice matters," Jacobs says, which described her perfectly.
Lortz says Williams, 38, shone as the top candidate for the assistant director position early on the interview process. "Tom just fit perfectly," Lortz said. "What I saw in Tom was an enthusiasm to come to Los Gatos, a respect of what Los Gatos is, and he had the technical competence and ethical and professional knowledge" that fit with the town.
"In my opinion--and I really believe this--the town of Los Gatos is the ideal town anywhere in the Bay Area," Williams said.
After doing research and reading through documents such as the town's vision statement and General Plan, Williams says he found "a real pride in the town--the relationship between town staff, businesses, town council and the community seemed to be cohesive." Everyone seems to have the same goal, which is to maintain the town's character despite growth pressures, Williams says.
"I do think that the staff is very good--exceptional, actually," Williams says, expressing his excitement to work with Lortz.
Lortz says Williams' primary responsibility will be running the town's planning department on a daily basis and assisting planners with projects, but also being involved with strategic thinking and management. Lortz, on the other hand, will concentrate on refining procedures and issues, and will work more closely with Figone.
For the past eight years, Williams has worked for private consulting firms, managing the planning, engineering and permitting processes for urban and suburban developments. Williams has also acted as a consultant for municipalities in beautification and streetscape projects.
Prior to moving up to Northern California in 1994, Williams held a long tenure as a senior planner for the city of San Diego.
Planning is the only career he has ever had, Williams says, and he has "never [wanted] to do anything else."
Williams' diversity of experience in both the public and private sectors, Lortz said, "is extremely pertinent to the role that he'll play in the department."
A native of the Los Angeles area, Williams earned a degree in public administration from San Diego State University, which is where he met his wife, Julie. The two moved north when Williams was just shy of completing his master's degree in city planning.
His hobbies, Williams said jokingly, include potty training his 3-year-old. In addition to parenting, Williams enjoys renovating his 68-year-old house, golfing, skiing and snowboarding.
Williams says he is someone who both works and plays hard, using his sense of humor to find joy in his job.
"I'm just anxious to get started, to learn and hopefully be a good resource for the town," Williams said.
At the end of June, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Larry Todd will retire, opening up another slot in the town's department management team. The town is currently in the recruitment process to hire a new police chief.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
