Stuart had also served on the OES State Building Committee, and “we actually developed that whole safety assessment training” applicable to proactive seismic upgrading. Public meetings were held to garner interest in the city’s Downtown Seismic Rehabilitation Program, which also required an investment by property owners.“I give a lot of credit to staff, especially Gladys Izaguirre, who gave us a ton of help on that. Gladys and myself did a majority of the work;” and when it was found the account had a balance of about $200,000, that funding in turn was used to create the South Paseo, an improvement benefiting downtown merchants.Stuart’s own interest in earthquake safety is personal as well as professional. “I had a great-great-aunt who had been visiting family in Moorpark who did die in San Francisco Earthquake and fire” during an overnight stopover on her way home to Santa Rosa.Overall, Stuart believes he played a “significant part in bringing the professionalism up in the city’s building and safety department... when I arrived there were a lot of things not being handled appropriately, and I don’t think people realize what a mess Santa Paula was before I got here. I think that caused some” of what Stuart said is his department’s tough reputation, but “I did everything I possibly could to treat all equally and be fair minded in enforcement for everybody. I have no regrets.”Stuart noted, “Well over 70 percent of code enforcement” is directed at rental property, “an investment for people.... And there’s the issue: if they’re not improving the property” profit is maximized, although tenant living conditions suffer.“I really felt under Teresa Young Kiernan’s leadership we really accomplished a lot with code enforcement,” an effort Stuart said should continue. Especially as he believes the department will not be as busy in other areas as it has in years past: “I think building will be stagnant for at least the next year, not much activity” due to the nationwide economic slump.When things pick up locally Stuart will be here to see them: “I moved here when I got the job, am still here, and plan to stay” in the city where his great-uncle by marriage, Sam Primmer, was the city’s fire and later police chief. “My great-great grandfather came to Santa Paula around the turn of the last century, probably before... he was a builder, built houses here. I know one house he built on Santa Paula Street.”Himself a native of Ventura, Stuart’s father was born in Moorpark, and his grandfather in Saticoy. “I’m the third generation born in the county and my kids are the fourth.”His wife Shauna, daughters Kendra and Hannah and 20-month-old granddaughter Karis - “She’s a kick!” - all live in Santa Paula, where Stuart’s new consulting business, including some special project work for the city such as The Mill and Depot restorations, is headquartered.
Steve Stuart : City of Santa Paula Building & Safety Director retires
June 24, 2009
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula’s own “Master of Disaster,” Building & Safety Director Stephen Stuart is looking forward to retirement, but that doesn’t mean the more than 25-year department head will not be busy.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSanta Paula’s own “Master of Disaster,” Building & Safety Director Stephen Stuart is looking forward to retirement, but that doesn’t mean the more than 25-year department head will not be busy. Stuart garnered his nickname through his efforts statewide in helping cities recover from the impacts of disasters, especially earthquakes.A graduate of Fresno State, Stuart had majored in industrial arts with an emphasis on construction: “I was always interested in the inspection field.... In 1979 the County of Fresno had a wonderful new idea, a one-stop counter for building and planning,” and right out of college Stuart was working behind that counter.“I was construction, the other person planning... and I literally didn’t know anything about zoning and planning, not my expertise at all. Literally, the first week I started I was handed a stack of hand-written memos and a zoning code guide and told answer these questions, and there were a ton of questions” ranging from the mundane to the complicated. Stuart moved to the plan check division, was promoted, and enjoyed that his job “wasn’t buttonholed with the same thing day in, day out.”In the early 1980s Stuart was dispatched to hard hit by earthquake Coalinga to help in the recovery. “That was in the day before the whole process” of building codes for earthquake safety had been created.During the assignment the city’s building inspector quit and Fresno County was asked to assume control. When Stuart’s higher seniority co-workers showed no interest in supervising what would be a mostly inexperienced crew, “I was called in, told you’re young but you can handle it... and I said where are my car keys! That is where I got supervisory experience,” and where Stuart stayed until hired by the City of Santa Paula.Stuart didn’t hesitate when asked what is his greatest accomplishment during a quarter century at the helm of the city’s Building and Safety Department. “The Downtown Seismic Rehabilitation program, 99 buildings out of 100 that were eligible were completed” and made earthquake safer through retrofitting, a project that was launched in the late 1990s and completed in 2002.But first, Stuart was called to aid Fillmore when it suffered widespread damage in the January 1994 Northridge earthquake. “Of course, afterwards we put in for hazard mitigation funds” from a FEMA set-aside program created to help quake proof buildings.Stuart had already built a strong reputation with the Office of Emergency Services: “My name was known down there, and out of the blue I got a phone call from OES asking if I was still interested in the grant” applied for “at least two or three years before... they asked if I would come out,” and Stuart and Sandy Easley of the city’s finance department made the trip.“We walked into the Pasadena office, exchanged some pleasantries, and they said the guys from FEMA want to talk to you” about Stuart’s application packet, “by that time about 18 inches thick. We made some small talk, the FEMA guy says I want to be straight up with you,” and he told the Santa Paula representatives that available funding must be spent “or we’re in trouble... and OES said if you can spend this money you can have it. I said of course we can,” said Stuart with a laugh. “They said fine and sent us $4.2 million.”
