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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s chief of staff on budget matters is leaving to run the city of Santa Monica.
Garcetti’s deputy mayor, Rick Cole, who was also responsible for the city’s innovation and technology strategy, will become the beach community’s city manager next month. Mayor Kevin McCune said he was unanimously elected by the Santa Monica City Council.
With this appointment, Cole becomes the third deputy mayor to announce Garcetti’s departure in recent months. Doan Liu, who was in charge of basic services, took a job at the Port of Los Angeles. Public Safety Commissioner Eileen Decker has been named the top federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles area.
This leaves Kelly Bernard, economic development director, as the only deputy mayor who was appointed with Garcetti in 2013. Garcetti’s publicist, Yusef Robb, also recently left the company to become a communications consultant.
Mr. Cole, 61, said he had intended to stay on until the end of Mr. Garcetti’s administration, but decided he couldn’t afford to pass up the city manager’s job. Part of that is due to the upcoming arrival of the Expo light rail line, which will terminate near the Third Street Promenade, he said.
Santa Monica is a “progressive city.” It’s a well-run city. We have the resources to do amazing things,” he said. “And with the introduction of the Expo Line, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
In a statement, Garcetti praised Cole for helping balance the budget and bring new technology to various city agencies.
“Santa Monica will benefit from his talent, experience and commitment to public service,” the mayor said.
Cole has experience in several Southern California municipalities. He was elected to the Pasadena City Council and served as mayor. He later served as city manager for the San Gabriel Valley cities of Azusa and most recently, the city of Ventura. When Mr. Garcetti hired him, Mr. Cole was working as the acting director of the Commission on Local Government, a nonprofit organization based in Sacramento.
Cole, a Los Feliz resident, was in charge of Garcetti’s budget issues at a time when the mayor was focused on basic services. The mayor’s latest budget proposal, easily approved last week, emphasizes trash pickup, sidewalk repairs and tree removal.
While at LA City Hall, Cole maintained an active presence on social media, voicing opinions not necessarily shared by his superiors. At one point last summer, he said on Twitter: insulted Donald Sterling, who was the owner of the Clippers at the time. A few months later, he tweeted his opinion of former Mayor Richard Riordan’s autobiography, saying it lacked humility and humor. “Is it because of a ghostwriter?” he wrote.
On Wednesday, the same day Cole’s hiring was announced, Labor leaders were approached about a Times article that said they were seeking exemptions from minimum wage laws for some unionized workplaces. His assessment was frank. “What do you mean?” he wrote. The tweet has since been deleted.
Cole takes the Santa Monica post at a time of heightened tensions between residents and advocacy groups over real estate development. Last year, amid community protests, the City Council rescinded approval for Bergamot Transit Village, an office, retail and housing project planned near Expo Station.
“Santa Monica has some real challenges with growth and development,” Cole said. “And I think part of the challenge is that the focus has been on the quantity of growth rather than the quality of growth.”
david.zahniser@latimes.com
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