A long legacy: Mountain View’s city manager retires after 20 years
Originally published in the Palo Alto Daily News April 1, 2011.
By Diana Samuels, Daily News Staff Writer
In 1971, when he was a junior at San Jose State, Kevin Duggan accepted an internship at the Mountain View city manager’s office to “find out whether this city government thing is really something I might be interested in.”
Apparently he found it interesting.
Duggan spent the next four decades in local government, including almost 21 years as Mountain View’s city manager. On Friday he worked his last day in the same office where he started his career, and today he is officially retired.
Duggan, who took the helm of Campbell for 18 years before returning to Mountain View, acknowledged it’s unusual for a city manager to stay in just a couple of cities during his or her career.
“You can’t plan it,” said Duggan, 60. “I chalk it up to good fortune as much as anything else.”
During his tenure in Mountain View, Duggan oversaw the construction of the city’s public library, creation of the Stevens Creek Trail, and completion of 10 neighborhood parks and three fire stations. Amid all the city council meetings, staff reports and budget debates, he remembers special moments such as shaking former president Bill Clinton’s hand when his plane landed at Moffett Field. Ten years ago, Duggan visited a new company that had just moved to Shoreline, called Google (GOOG).
“The thing that I’ve really enjoyed about Mountain View is that there’s great variety,” Duggan said. “I tell people that there’s never an issue that pops up anywhere that doesn’t pop up in Mountain View sooner or later. It just seems to be that kind of place. Every day is different.”
Colleagues joke about Duggan’s reputation as a “penny-pincher,” a “tightwad” and a “tightfisted” manager of Mountain View’s finances. Community Services Director David Muela said the city’s financial solvency will be “one of (Duggan’s) legacies.”
“It’s been tough for the last few years,” Muela said. “It’s been hard for all cities. I think Kevin has managed to really keep the core programs and services we offer intact.”
Council Member Laura Macias described Duggan as “sort of old school as a city manager. He’s very polite, very respectful to residents and employees, to the council. It’s just kind of amazing how even-tempered he is.”
As a manager, colleagues said, Duggan let people in the city do their jobs and presented the city council with unbiased information.
“He wasn’t a minutiae kind of person,” said Nadine Levin, former assistant city manager. “He had the larger picture. He made sure that we knew, all of us in the organization, what the council wanted and what the community wanted, and it was up to all of us, as staff, to make that happen.”
In a “farewell” presentation at his last city council meeting on March 22, Duggan urged city officials to be good stewards of the “delicate” cohesive culture of Mountain View’s city government.
Not every relationship has been smooth, though. In 2001, Duggan and then-city attorney Michael Martello accused former council member Mario Ambra of ordering city employees to do favors for him. The accusations resulted in a three-week jury trial, with Ambra ultimately found guilty of one count of misconduct. He ultimately lost his council seat, which Ambra’s supporters alleged Duggan and Martello wanted all along so they could horde power for themselves.
“It was one of those things where it doesn’t matter if it’s uncomfortable, it doesn’t matter if there’s somehow some job risk involved,” Duggan said. “You don’t have a choice — you have to confront it. And since we couldn’t get it resolved through counseling and talking to the individual, we had to do what we had to do.”
Vice Mayor Mike Kasperzak said Duggan “got through that experience well” and “embodies the highest ethical standards, in my view.”
The city is still searching for Duggan’s replacement, and Assistant City Manager Melissa Stevenson Dile will take the reins in the meantime.
Duggan said he doesn’t yet have any specific plans for retirement, but hopes to volunteer at a couple of nonprofits and finish some projects at home.
Will he ever attend another city council meeting?
“No,” he said adamantly. “I think 40 years is enough for one lifetime.”