No Anaheim move for Costa Mesa city manager

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- City officials can breathe a sigh of relief. City

Manager Allan Roeder is not going anywhere -- at least for now.

In an unexpected move, the Anaheim City Council voted Tuesday to fill

its city manager vacancy from within its organization, eliminating an

opportunity for Roeder to leave.

“While I certainly think Allan is very well qualified, we are just as

happy to have him stay here,” Mayor Libby Cowan said.

Last month, Roeder announced he would be interested in filling the

soon-to-be vacant city manager position in Anaheim, now held by the

retiring James Ruth. He was waiting to hear if Anaheim would launch an

outside search for other candidates before he would seriously consider

it.

The decision was made for him when Anaheim council members appointed

Assistant City Manager David Morgan to fill the position that will be

vacated by Ruth. Roeder is good friends with Morgan and congratulated him

in person at the monthly Orange County City Managers Assn. luncheon

Wednesday.

His City Hall colleagues are not the only ones breathing easier,

Roeder said. The council’s decision means Roeder gets to avoid making a

difficult choice between his professional and personal priorities, he

said.

“I wasn’t looking forward to making that call. It would have been a

tough decision,” Roeder said.

Roeder said he has never been unhappy in the city of Costa Mesa but

could not ignore the management opportunities Anaheim boasted -- its own

utilities, as well as being home to two professional sports teams and

popular tourist attractions such as Disneyland.

If given another ideal opportunity, with the right mix of professional

enhancement and a good community, Roeder said he would consider leaving

Costa Mesa.

“It would really have to be a perfect fit,” he said. “If it doesn’t

happen, I will have had a fabulous and wonderful opportunity in Costa

Mesa.”

Rumors of his possible departure sparked a lot of resident and staff

input, Roeder said, both good and bad. But all the positive comments --

which outweighed the negative -- reminded him of the wonderful people he

would be leaving.

“The accolades I’ve gotten are really representative of my colleagues

and the community,” Roeder said.

Starting as an unpaid intern, Roeder quickly climbed to the top of

Costa Mesa, becoming the city manager in 1985.

Colleagues were not surprised by Roeder’s announcement and agreed the

move would be a step up. Cowan called the Anaheim city manager job a

“plum position.”

“Allan has an incredible reputation as a city manager and a problem

solver. It’s no doubt his name would surface as a replacement,” Cowan

said last month.