The latest issue of The District Weekly hit stands around Long Beach today, containing an interesting profile of new City Manager Pat West.
Author Dave Wielenga provides an informative history both of the City Manager position and West himself. Pointing out that although West has worked in Paramount for the last eleven years, he has been heavily involved in Long Beach’s development for the last two.
“He’s an insider’s outsider,” Wielenga writes. “Or an outsider’s insider.”
West provides insightful comments about his vision for the land he now oversees—based on years of experience dealing with neighboring cities.
“For those on the other side of the 91, Long Beach has been a little bit of an enigma,” West is quoted. “Having worked here awhile, I can better understand why: we are so busy, busy, busy that it can be hard to get out. But it is important that we do. The further you go away from our downtown—a municipal miracle that nobody else in the region has—and get up by the 405 and 91 Freeways, Long Beach shares a lot of the same issues with all the cities in the region. If we learn about their solutions, we won’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we have a problem.”
You may remember an lbpost.com interview with West two weeks back—in which the new City Manager answers eight questions, as opposed to The District’s six (but who’s counting?). You can revisit that column here.
Congratulations and good luck to West on his first week on the job.
