City manager settles into role

“[That aptitude test] came back as urban planning and I didn’t understand what a planner did or what that was at the time, and all my friends had more interesting ones,” Nisbet said. “I think my dad made an off-handed comment when I asked him what does that mean, what am I supposed to do, and he said ‘well you might be the city manager of Bellevue one day’ and it just stuck in my mind and became more crystalized as I went through college and grad school.”

Nisbet, 54, grew up in Bellevue, Washington, and attended graduate school in Santa Barbara, where he also lived for many years until moving to the Bay Area six years ago. He was hired by a civil engineering firm out of college and later directed the General Services Department for Santa Barbara County and served as Public Works director for the city of Carpinteria.

So this is not the first time Nisbet has worked and lived in a coastal community and it goes without saying he’s intimately familiar with the rules and governing processes unique to coastal areas.

Immediately prior to becoming Half Moon Bay’s top executive, he was the assistant general manager for the East Bay Regional Park District and lived in Oakland.

After a couple of months of commuting and a lengthy search for a new home closer to work, Nisbet and his wife found a place to rent in El Granada.

“So I understand the housing challenges firsthand,” he said. “The cost of housing is a big problem here, it’s very expensive and there’s a limited supply. I can be very empathetic and relate personally because I’m experiencing firsthand how difficult it is to find a place to live here.”

Nisbet said housing and homelessness are two of the major issues he and the council are focused on and the widespread frustration with traffic congestion is certainly not lost on him.

He’s also spent much of his time these first months on the process of amending the city’s local coastal land use plan, which outlines a vision for the future of Half Moon Bay.

“It’s one of our number one issues and it relates to housing because it drives zoning for the next 25 years,” he said.

All of those issues contribute in some way to the tension between change and status quo that Nisbet is hearing from locals and that’s relevant to just about every Bay Area city.

“I’m hearing from the community a commitment to Half Moon Bay the way it is now and people value the kind of things that I value about Half Moon Bay: small-town charm, on the coast, beautiful, lots of beaches, parks, open space and friendly people,” he said. “So on the one hand I’m hearing the desire to keep it that way, but at the same time acknowledging that in this world change is inevitable. The best we can do to make sure we keep the community the way we want it is to plan for that potential change the best we can.”

Outside of work, Nisbet likes to spend his time outdoors, including cycling, hiking and camping. He looks forward to familiarizing himself with the best spots in San Mateo County to do those things now that he’s moving into the area; prior to accepting the job, Nisbet had only visited Half Moon Bay a handful of times.

“I’ve noticed a spirit of Half Moon Bay, and there’re many people really committed to their community and that really struck me as a positive,” he said. “As a city manager, people want to talk to me and welcome me and I appreciate all that. It’s been real nice how incredibly friendly everyone is.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102