Santa Rosa assistant city manager retires

Chuck Regalia, a longtime Santa Rosa city official in charge of several high-profile public initiatives, is retiring this week after 42 years.

Regalia received a standing ovation from his colleagues at Tuesday’s City Council meeting as well as praise for his years of service.

“He’s been a rock in the city,” City Manager Sean McGlynn said.

Regalia, 68, grew up in the East Bay. After college he worked as a planner in cities in Southern California before being hired by Santa Rosa as a senior planner in 1974, when the city was less than half its current size. After receiving his master’s in public administration from Sonoma State University, he rose through the ranks to become director of the department in 2005.

During his career, Regalia had a direct role in planning where and how the city should grow, as well as where it shouldn’t. He worked on plans meant to coordinate development in the southeast and southwest sections of the city and, more recently, to encourage more dense building around the city’s two rail stations.

He also helped lay the foundation for the establishment of urban growth boundaries, which helped rein in decades of sprawl after voters approved the concept in 1996.

In 2013, after the council made the annexation of Roseland a top priority, Regalia was promoted to assistant city manager while remaining director of what was then called the Community Development Department.

After a critical review of the department by an outside consultant, McGlynn made Regalia a full-time assistant city manager and David Guhin, former director of Santa Rosa Water, was tasked with reforming the department on an interim basis. The department is now called Planning and Economic Development and Guhin has since been named its permanent director.

Regalia’s recent work has focused on complex, high-profile citywide initiatives like the annexation of Roseland, rent control and just-cause eviction policies, options for boosting affordable housing and the establishment of a southeast greenway.

Mayor John Sawyer thanked Regalia for sharing his deep knowledge of land use issues over the years and said he had served the city well.

In an interview, Regalia said he kept working past typical retirement age because he enjoyed the work and there always seemed to be another project unfinished. He made a salary of just over $177,000 this year, an income which after 45  years in public service he’ll exceed in retirement.

Regarded as a genial and generous city official, Regalia became emotional Tuesday as he thanked the council and his colleagues for a rewarding career.

“I’m, surprisingly, just filled with appreciation for the opportunities that I’ve had,” Regalia said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.