Leaders leave after agency is reorganized

After the split of the Resource Management Agency, two top planning administrators are headed elsewhere.

SALINAS >> In the wake of the former Monterey County Resource Management Agency’s split into two agencies following a consultant’s report critical of the organization’s performance over its 15year existence, two top planning administrators are headed elsewhere.

Former RMA Director Carl Holm is officially retiring after more than 19 years with the county and 32 years in public service, and moving to Colorado where he already owns a home, although he plans to continue working as director of Delta County community development and natural resources.

And acting Chief of Planning Brandon Swanson is leaving the county to take over as Carmel’s director of community planning and building.

Holm’s last day is Friday next week, and Swanson is set to leave on Friday this week and start his new job in Carmel on Monday.

Holm said he is moving to be near family since he and his wife are the last of their kin remaining in California.

Swanson, who was seeking the permanent county chief of planning position, said the decision to leave was a “hard one,” but that taking the Carmel position was the “best career decision for me and my family,” and one he couldn’t pass up.

Holm, who was hired at the county as a senior planner in late 2001, has seen county planning go through a series of changes over the past two decades while participating in and overseeing some of the high-profile initiatives during that time as he moved up the ranks to planning manager, assistant director of planning, deputy RMA director and ultimately director of the agency.

Holm’s tenure with the county spanned the existence of the RMA, which included the combined services of planning, building inspection and public works under one umbrella in 2005, and then added general services, parks and floodplain management over the years, while housing, economic development and fleet management were removed to the County Administrative Office.

During that time he has helped oversee the county’s response to a series of major fires and floods, the pandemic, and manage the agency under what he called a “highly litigious environment” that included the involvement of attorneys for even basic permits with no legal issue, as well as “distrust” as a result of past practices such as the planning documents “ghostwriting scandal.”

He lists a number of top accomplishments such as helping oversee the lengthy and often contentious general plan update process, Carmel Lagoon management, creation of the cannabis program, initiating a design review committee and absorbing the flailing county parks department while establishing plans for sustainable management including an online reservation system, as well as the establishment of the one-stop permit center, and starting online permit payments and electronic permit submittals.

In addition, Holm said he helped improve collaboration between RMA and other county departments, as well as communication through regular meetings with outside agencies and industries such as the California Coastal Commission, state and federal resource agencies, and development interest groups, and reduced legal challenges involving both staffing and land use, and guided the agency through the dissolution of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority and the RMA itself.

While consultant City Gate found the RMA engaged in a “decades-long struggle” with customer service and stakeholder satisfaction, as well as employee turnover, difficulty in filling key vacant positions, inadequate staff training, insufficient coordination of workflows, and work backlogs dating back to its formation, Holm said the study merely highlighted a number of issues that were known but which the agency couldn’t make headway on. He said the recommended and ultimately completed reorganization followed the format he created.

Born and raised in Long Beach, Holm attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and worked in construction before starting his public service career including stints with Susanville, LaVerne, Rosemead and Walnut before moving to his father’s hometown of Salinas and starting his career with the county. He plans to move to Cedaredge, Colo. where he has owned a home since 2014.

Swanson, who joined the county as a management analyst in 2015, also served as planning services manager before being named acting chief of planning and secretary of the county Planning Commission. He said he’s proudest of his role in processing “large-scale, high-quality” farmworker housing projects such as Spreckels Crossing and Casa Boronda, helping develop and implement cannabis rules, and improving relationships with community-based activist groups such as Landwatch and the Carmel Valley Association.

He said the biggest challenges were “rebuilding the trust of the public” related to the perception of issues from years ago, which he said he believes he was able to accomplish in part, and working to reduce planning project backlogs as a result of staffing vacancies, which he noted rose as high as 60% at times over the past six years.

Swanson also praised Holm for his mentorship, which he said had prepared him for the next step in his career.

Holm and Swanson leave as the RMA reorganization has officially been completed as of Nov. 30 with the separation of regulatory and operational functions into two new departments dubbed Housing and Community Development and Public Works, Facilities and Parks. But the departments will continue to operate under the RMA budget for the current fiscal year, and the RMA web page remains active on the county website and includes no information about the new departments.

Former county public works Director Randy Ishii was named Public Works, Facilities and Parks director in November, while Holm was named Housing and Community Development director at the same time.

County spokeswoman Maia Carroll said county officials are weighing their options for appointing interim replacements for both Holm and Swanson and will launch a recruitment.