Pomeranz and a city in rebirth

CEDAR RAPIDS — The city now has had five years of City Manager Jeff Pomeranz.

How is he doing?

In 2010, Pomeranz was a contented city manager of 12 years for West Des Moines when Cedar Rapids city officials came calling, handpicking him without a competition to bring some of his suburban development mojo to a city getting up off the mat from its historic flood disaster of 2008.

Five years later, Pomeranz still can visualize what he saw back in 2010 on his first visits to Cedar Rapids: flood-damaged homes, wrecked businesses and major city government buildings, empty and waiting for decisions about their post-flood futures.

He remembered, too, trash blowing around some of the streets, and a little thing — street signs that had faded from bright green to almost white, for example — that hinted of neglect.

'When I first came to Cedar Rapids, people in the Des Moines area would ask me why I was moving to Cedar Rapids,' he said. 'Now when I go to Des Moines, people say, 'Wow, Cedar Rapids is on a roll. Things are moving. The city looks great. What a transformation. Your community is in rebirth.'

'That's what I hear from outsiders, but that's also what I hear from insiders. …

I feel really proud to be city manager of Cedar Rapids. We've taken a phenomenal city, and we've made it much better.'

Achievements

Don't ask Pomeranz, 57, to list the high points of his five years in Cedar Rapids, unless you have some time. He has a list of 55 city government accomplishments — in only the past year.

For example, the city's 10-year, $180 million Paving for Progress program is underway; the city has a new comprehensive plan, a new vacant-and-neglected-building ordinance, a street median beautification program; the start of downtown wireless service is in place; a new app for city bus service is on the way, and so are the first pieces of flood protection; post-flood replacement residential projects are moving toward completion; the riverfront greenway is emerging; and …

During a recent visit, a manageable stack of papers was on the end of the conference table in Pomeranz's City Hall office suite. At the height of the flood recovery, he said his administrative assistant needed a cart to bring in the paper.

'I'd have to reserve almost an entire day to reviewing and signing documents,' he said. 'You think about the city acquiring well over 1,000 (flood-damaged) properties. Somebody had to sign off on all of those.'

But flood recovery is in the rearview mirror.

'Now, we're looking at planning for Mount Vernon Road and Highway 30 and asking how we rebuild a deteriorating neighborhood,' Pomeranz said. 'We're becoming normal. The flood of '08 isn't what takes up our days anymore. It's the normal activities of city government.'

One block

He said he has made progress on what city leaders wanted him to achieve for the city — growth, investment and economic development.

On First Street SE in downtown alone, he said, there is a new federal courthouse, the renovation of the former Great Furniture Mart building, TrueNorth's transformation of the former city library, the Metro Economic Alliance's move into the empty IMAX Theatre building, housing plans for the closed Smulekoff's store, the construction of the new CRST headquarters building and the conversion of the former courthouse into City Hall.

'And that's just one block in just a few years,' Pomeranz said.

He makes no apologies for a new matrix of city property tax incentives, which he has helped put in place, and for which development that meet certain criteria all but automatically qualify.

He asked, how else would the long-failing Westdale Mall now be under redevelopment, but for some city help?

Projects, from mixed-use retail/office/housing to business moves and expansions to renovation of historic buildings, have benefited from city incentives under the new incentive protocol.

The spark plugs

'With everything that the city experienced since the '08 flood, we needed to put some of these (incentive) plans in place in order to encourage growth and development in our community,' the city manager said. 'And I believe most of the projects we've supported would not have occurred without the city providing assistance.'

The development projects limit the property tax breaks to a number of years, often to only five, Pomeranz said. After that, the projects are fully taxed, he said.

'It's not a zero-sum game. There's just a little bit of a waiting game until we get there,' he said.

He pointed to the new redevelopment project at what had been the empty former Nash Finch grocery warehouse buildings on Blairs Ferry Road NE. Developer Hunter Parks has demolished the buildings and is preparing to redevelop the site, with the help of property tax breaks.

'So we could have sat around for 25 years and said, 'What are we going to do about Nash Finch?' ' Pomeranz said.

'We need to encourage, we need to be that spark plug for economic development. But it is the private sector that takes on the risk. I have ultimate respect for those who take on these hard, complex projects.'

'Outstanding job'

City, state and federal incentives and support have helped with housing and mixed-use projects that are turning New Bohemia, Kingston Village, the downtown and Czech Village into newly vibrant places, Pomeranz said. He lives in Kingston Village and sees 'the vibe' firsthand.

The City Council has expressed its support for Pomeranz, in part by making him Iowa's highest-paid city manager. This month, he received a raise of 4.15 percent, putting his annual salary at $278,874. He also receives deferred compensation in lieu of a pension equal to 32 percent of his salary — $89,239 with his latest raise.

'Jeff has done an outstanding job,' said Mayor Ron Corbett, who parted ways with Pomeranz's predecessor and, as a City Council member, helped hire Pomeranz.

'Cedar Rapids is better and stronger than we were before the flood. Jeff gets the job done. Plain and simple, he's one of the best city managers in the country.'

Monica Vernon, who was mayor pro tem during her two terms on the council, said Pomeranz has helped the council 'take this city to a higher playing field.' With him, the city has seen a resurgence in retail development and neighborhood pride, improvement in the city's streets and a boost to the city's overall quality of life, she said.

'He saw what we could become, and wow, he has helped us achieve so much,' she said.

In Pomeranz's office are shelves of mementos from his city manager stops in Del Rio, Texas; Port Angeles, Wash.; and West Des Moines.

His office barely reflects his Cedar Rapids job. There's a photo of the new riverfront amphitheater; an old 'Five Seasons Hotel' sign off the city-owned hotel before its renovation; the city's All-America City sign, a designation achieved in 2014; and a nifty award made out of recycled blue glass to honor his litter cleanup effort, the 'city manager's 1-bag challenge.'

'I don't need a lot of pictures right now of Cedar Rapids,' Pomeranz said. 'I'm living it every day.'