Gaslamp Chief Quit Over Lack of Clout : Job Performance Wasn’t Cause of His Resignation, Monserrate Says

One thing Larry Monserrate is sure of--even more so after 15 months on the job as executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Council--is that he is not a lobbyist. He never thought he’d have to be one.

But to his surprise, frustration and chagrin, he found that lobbying was a prime requisite of his job, Monserrate says. And that was among the reasons why he surprised almost everyone else and resigned last month. His action became public Friday.

In an interview Monday, Monserrate said that, although there was recent disgruntlement by some Gaslamp Quarter Council board members over his job performance--a development he says surprised him--that was not what drove him to resign.

“I wasn’t asked to resign, nor was I fired. It was a personal decision I had to make. . . . I’m not leaving here with any malice or vindictiveness,” said Monserrate, whose assessment was supported by Brian Walsh, president of the Gaslamp Quarter Council board of directors.

Board Said to Lack Clout

What Monserrate is leaving with is a front-line understanding of his job’s limitations, limitations that he says have the potential to equally frustrate his successor unless fundamental changes are made.

While the Gaslamp Quarter--16 1/2 blocks of turn-of-the-century buildings in various degrees of dilapidation or renaissance in the heart of downtown San Diego--is looked at as a special place, one that should be developed into a key component of downtown’s burgeoning night life, there is no agency in the historic district with the power to make that happen, Monserrate said.

Instead of being a redevelopment agency--similar to the Centre City Development Corp.--with authority to implement projects in conjunction with private builders, the Gaslamp Quarter Council has no clout, except for persuasion, he said.

“We don’t have any implementation power . . . so we end up being a lobbying group for Gaslamp, “ he said. “I’m not interested in being a lobbyist, frankly.”

Monserrate said he wasn’t aware, either from reading his job description or in his job interviews, that the Gaslamp Quarter Council lacked the kind of muscle he had held in his former post as director of downtown development in Pensacola, Fla. He said he also didn’t realize that the Gaslamp Quarter Council’s funding was tenuous and fully dependent on an annual review from the City Council. (The City Council on Monday approved Gaslamp’s $265,000 yearly budget.)

“You end up lobbying every City Council member to continue your existence,” Monserrate said.

‘No Access’ to Mayor

Compounding the power void is Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s indifference to the Gaslamp Quarter, despite her public support for the historic district, and a lack of access to the City Council in general, Monserrate said.

“We could never get to see the mayor. . . . She has chosen to write off the Gaslamp Quarter,” said Monserrate, adding that he had attempted on several occasions to talk to O’Connor but was rebuffed by her staff. “We have no access to her. . . . That’s something that needs special attention.”

He said the 15-member Gaslamp Quarter Council board of directors is probably too large and unwieldly. While such a group, composed of people with property and businesses in Gaslamp, may have been needed and been more effective several years ago, when the main impetus was in simply saving the area’s historic structures, it has now outgrown its usefulness, Monserrate said. He said he would make fundamental changes, but all would be contingent on the organization obtaining more authority.

For example, Monserrate said, one possible configuration of the new board could include the City Council member who represents downtown, a person from the CCDC board of directors, three Gaslamp Quarter property owners and two business owners.

“You have to have people with clout and access. . . . You need power to get things done,” Monserrate said.

While CCDC--the official downtown redevelopment agency--has helped the Gaslamp Quarter, especially in spurring changes along 4th Avenue south of Broadway, the historic district needs its own similar agency, Monserrate said.

“This isn’t on Jerry’s (Gerald Trimble, head CCDC administrator) agenda. Jerry’s a big-deal guy,” he said. “Down here this is small deals . . . getting ground-floor retail leases. He’s not interested in that . . . and I don’t blame him. He doesn’t have the staff.”

Job Review Preliminary

Monserrate said that he had undergone a job performance evaluation about six months ago and that everyone seemed to be satisfied. But recently, he was subjected to the another review, where it became apparent that there was some dissatisfaction. But, both he and Walsh said, the review was very preliminary and the matter was to be discussed by the entire board in the future.

“The review was preliminary, and it was disorganized and not developed enough for me to even understand,” Monserrate said. “But these reviews happen; they are not unusual when you (work for a large) board. I never expected you can make everyone happy.”

Gaslamp council President Walsh said that the post of executive director is a particularly tough one because of the size of the 15-member board of directors. “On the Gaslamp Quarter Council, you have people who are extremely active in this area, you have businesses here and property,” he said. “Everyone has an an idea of how to do it better than the next person. Everyone has a different idea of how to run Gaslamp.”

Walsh said that he “worked closely with Larry . . . and I think his performance was fine,” adding that the board could have been overly optimistic when it was recruiting Monserrate. “I think, for one thing, we may have painted a rosier (financial) picture” than may have been justified, he said.

Monserrate, 45, said his resignation is effective on May 15. He is not sure what he’ll do next; he may start his own company or stay in urban redevelopment, which he has done for 15 years. He will, however, go back East, either to Washington or Florida, where he said he has better job prospects and knowledge of the territory and contacts.

Monserrate still believes the Gaslamp Quarter holds the potential of being a very special place for San Diego.

“Really, after sizing up the situation, I realized from my career objectives and from what I was willing to accept . . . they aren’t here,” he said.