Redevelopment Chief Headed for San Diego

After working for 6 1/2 years to revitalize Ventura’s downtown, redevelopment manager Pat Richardson will be leaving for a similar post with the city of San Diego.

Richardson, who came to Ventura in 1991 from a firm in Los Angeles, has overseen many of the downtown’s most ambitious projects--including the repaving of the sidewalks and the planting of the queen palms that punctuate them.

He will leave just seven months before the centerpiece project he helped create--a 10-screen theater complex--is scheduled to open.

“Everything is pretty much set in motion,” Richardson said Monday. “I would have liked to see the movie theater finished, but the basic foundation is there. The future looks very bright for Ventura.”

When Richardson came to Ventura, the city, along with most of Southern California, was in the throes of the recession.

“Nothing was going on,” Richardson said. “Not just in Ventura, but anywhere.”

That lull gave the city the chance to lay the groundwork for the economic rebound in progress now, Richardson said.

In San Diego, Richardson will work on redevelopment as well as economic development.

Richardson said he does not expect the city to start looking for someone to fill his spot until the beginning of the year.

Richardson, who leaves Wednesday, said he will miss Ventura.

“There are 100,000 people here, but it feels like a very small town,” he said. “I will miss walking into stores and restaurants and seeing people I know.”