10 Walnut Creek Magazine

Mayor Gwen Regalia is call-ing it quits. It’s been a long, hard journey through

decades of public service. Through it all, Regalia has been relentless in her goal to help transform Walnut Creek into a prestigious destina-tion shopping city with a healthy balance of parks and recreation, good schools and public services. And after 21 years on the City Council, including five times as Mayor, Gwen Regalia steps down this month from the podium. Respected by her col-leagues as “the sage of Walnut Creek who knows what the city needs and fights to get it,” Regalia is admired for her com-mitment, knowledge and tenacity.

I spoke to the Mayor at her office about her career and her views on some of the challenges facing the City of Walnut Creek in coming years. And of course, the Neiman Mar-cus project.

Deborah Burstyn: Look-ing back on your 21 years on Wal-nut Creek City Council, of what accomplishments are you most proud?

Mayor Regalia: The Lesher Center for the Arts. It opened in October 1990. It has been a marvelous con-tribution to the arts and culture in our community. And I am leaving office having approved the library which is the next major piece we are adding to the cultural life of this community. I am pleased to have these two projects serve as book-ends for my tenure on the City Council.

DB: Is there enough money to finish the library what with the economic downturn?

MR: We have the money to com-plete it. It is the cost of operating the library that we will need as-sistance with.

DB: So why do you do all this? Why be a part of local government?

MR: I love what I do. I would not have wanted to do anything else.

Before being elected to the Council, I spent nine years on the school board.

DB: How much time do you have to put in as a member of the council?

MR: Council members work be-tween 20 to 60 hours a week, plus we put in many evenings at meet-ings, dinners and fundraisers.

DB: If I may ask, do you get paid?

MR: We get $650 a month plus $100 car allowance. Plus, I get Kaiser for one person and a small reimburse-ment for work-related expenses. It is obvious one does not do this for the money, but the salary does help offset what we spend on tickets to fundraisers.

DB: How do you feel about the opposition to the Neiman Marcus store?

MR: If the measure against Neiman Marcus makes it to the ballot, it is clear that the appeal is intended to repeal the decision of the Council. We believe that the incentive for this is coming from a competing

interest that wishes to kill the deal in Walnut Creek so they can take it to their own community. If they can attract Nei-man Marcus, some of the Broadway Plaza shops will follow leaving empty storefronts. We need to keep our older stores functioning and vital.

DB: Sometimes residents feel that the Council does not listen to them. What do you think?

MR: I believe in citizen participation, I believe in public meetings and I believe in the Brown Act. We always allow people to speak. We read all the letters we get but

some people don’t understand that. Because we did not agree with you does not mean that we did not listen to you. We may have good reasons why we do not agree. It is a part of public life.

DB: During your years on the Wal-nut Creek City Council, what is the one thing that you wish had turned out differently?

MR: Olympia Place. I saw some of the designs, but the building turned out different. It is more monolithic in appearance instead of looking like individual buildings.

DB: Is that why it has so many vacancies?

MR: No. Those vacancies were a bellwether for the stock market.

A Conversation with Walnut Creek Mayor Gwen RegaliaBy Deborah Burstyn

November/December 2008 11

And when you have a building facing difficulties, other businesses don’t want to be there. I believe it will turn around. Fleming’s is still on the upper level of Olympia Place and doing well. And even though many retailers are facing difficul-ties now, Neiman Marcus is still coming. The Andronico’s property has been rented to the Cheesecake Factory, but they are not taking all the space and we’re in talks with other stores.

DB: And the Broadway Plaza va-cancies?

MR: Stores go through life cycles like anything else. I can remember when Sears and JC Penney’s were at Broadway Plaza. Macerich Co. bought it in 1985 with the idea of making it into an upscale shopping center. They’ve done it gradually and very nicely with flowers and artwork. They have been an excel-lent partner.

DB: Do you think a store the size of Neiman Marcus will open the door for more big buildings down-town?

MR: Absolutely not. The Nieman Marcus store will be the same height as Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. It is going to be half the size of Nordstrom’s. And it is hardly going to turn Walnut Creek into Manhat-tan.

DB: Doesn’t it seem that crime in Walnut Creek is increasing?

MR: Our crime rate is relatively low. The highest number of crimes is those against property. The biggest crime problem we have is parked cars getting broken into because people do not hide their laptops or cell phones.

DB: Do you think we need more police?

MR: If people come into our com-munity with bad intentions, it is very hard to stop them. Every po-lice force would be happy to have more officers. And there will be an increase in police here two to four years down the road.

DB: Aside from retail, do we have enough new business coming into town?

MR: We are fortunate to have a number of large companies. We have the Genome Institute and we were involved in finding a spot for Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation. AAA is moving out of San Francisco to Walnut Creek. We work closely with the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Business Association to help small and large businesses come here and stay here. We also meet with large employers annually to find out whether we are standing in the way of anything they want to do or if they have problems we can help resolve. We recently met with Var-ian and our two major hospitals.

DB: And what did they complain about?

MR: Traffic. Everyone complains about traffic. They mostly complain about Ygnacio Valley Road. So we’re investing in a sophisticated new system to speed the flow of traffic on Ygnacio Valley Road.

DB: Will that affect the kids cross-ing Ygnacio Valley Road in the morning on the way to WCI?

MR: We spent a lot of money on a foot bridge that is half a block away from the corner of Walnut that goes right to the school. The kids may

need to get up five minutes earlier so they can use it.

DB: So for all the traffic, retail and business offices, what’s in it for the residents?

MR: We get 22 parks, 2700 acres of open space, the Shadelands Art Center, the new library, the skate park, the dog park, a teen website, and crisis counselors at all the school sites, downtown parking garages, free movies in the park, the Free Ride, the South Broadway extension and improved freeway on-ramps at Lawrence Way.

DB: Do you think Walnut Creek still has the wonderful atmosphere it had for families when you were raising your four children?

MR: It does and it has expanded. We have many more activities for kids today than we did when my kids were young. And it will con-tinue because we have very good schools and amenities for families. I was pleased that Walnut Creek was recently recognized by US News and World Report as one of the best places to retire. But we also want to be known as a good city for families. The enrollment figures are up this year for the Walnut Creek School District because families continue to move here.

DB: Thank you, Mayor Regalia.