Photograph by George Sakkestad
Bill Powers, Sunnyvale's community development director, retires this month after 19 years work.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Sunnyvale has faced land-use issues large and small, from a moratorium on industrial projects to building a controversial Walgreens at Fremont and Mary Avenues with Bill Powers at the helm of the community development department. Through the ups and downs of 19 years as the department's director, Powers has remained mild-mannered and stable, performing a high-stress job with ease.
Powers, 59, will retire at the end of the month and pass the torch to David Boesch, who comes to Sunnyvale from New Hampshire. Boesch begins his new duties in mid-July.
Powers, who has taken only two 10-day vacations during his stint with the city, will begin his life of leisure just 96 hours after his last day of work--with a flight to Ireland with his wife, Janet.
Powers came to Sunnyvale in 1977 after working for the state's planning department, Stanford Research Institute and San Mateo County as an assistant planning director. He said the city's reputation for good management intrigued him.
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Powers attended the University of Wisconsin for his bachelor's degree and received a master's in city and regional planning at the University of Illinois.
At his first City Council meeting, Powers said he received polite applause after his introduction, and one lady leaned over and told him "You'd better enjoy this because it's the only applause you'll ever get."
Although Powers did not hear much more applause, he has received credit and respect for his accomplishments. He has introduced many new programs and departments into Sunnyvale's community development department, including economic development, housing, neighborhood preservation and a one-stop building application and permit center. Powers, who is fond of history, also helped found the city's Heritage Preservation Commission. These departments have improved the city's relationships with neighborhoods and the business community, city officials say.
"I think I'm most proud of the number of programs we've added to the department in response to community needs. We are better able to respond to problems that neighborhoods feel need to be addressed," he said.
When he arrived, the city had virtually no housing program but can now boast of assisted housing for low-to-medium-income families, he added. Last year, Sunnyvale's only single-room occupancy facility opened on Carroll Street.
Powers said a reporter called him a day after his arrival and asked why he came to a city where there were no land issues. For the next 15 years, Powers guided the city through major controversies, including a six-month moratorium on industrial development.
"At the time I got here, it appeared that growth was outstripping the sewer treatment plant. It gave us a chance to look at the capacity of the treatment plant and see how we could balance industrial and residential development. Land use has always been a challenge here and a hot topic in the community," he said.
Powers also played a large role in the redevelopment of the 100 block of South Murphy Avenue, the city's oldest block that had become rundown and decrepit. He said his first assignment was "downtown redevelopment" and his last assignment was "downtown redevelopment." Yet many alarmed citizens at first feared the downtown would be destroyed.
Instead, the block now thrives with popular nightclubs and restaurants, such as the Palace and Stoddard's, and has shed its unsavory reputation.
City Manager Tom Lewcock, who joined the Sunnyvale team the same time as Powers, said the two have seen many changes take place. Powers is characteristically mild-mannered in his dealings with oftentimes contentious issues.
"I think land use concerns in any community are the most difficult to gain consensus on and he has stayed very professional about them through the whole time he's been here. His department is known as one of the elite in developing a streamlined permit system. People come from everywhere to make their systems as user-friendly as possible," he said.
Trudi Ryan, Sunnyvale's planning officer, said while Powers has earned respect from the community. his staff will miss him as well. Ryan and other staff members hunted down pictures of Powers. including those of his high school graduation and a young Powers sitting atop his Harley-Davidson with pant legs and shirt sleeves rolled up like James Dean.
Staff members attached the photos to Popsicle sticks and held them in front of their faces like masks at a surprise going-away party for Powers. When Powers entered the room, all he could see were pictures of himself looking back. "It was startling, especially the contrast between high school and the current one," he joked.
Ryan said Powers is easy to work for, but can be firm when he needs to. "It's always exciting when there's a change and new things but a number of people who work with him will miss him," she said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 19, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.