Hermosa Beach Mayor Howard Fishman upstaged his own State of the City address by kicking off a series of tributes to retiring City Manager Steve Burrell, who was serving his last day on a job he held for 18 years.
“Mr. Burrell left some shoes that will be pretty hard to fill,” Fishman said near the end of his address, shortly before Burrell was honored by former City Council members and other civic leaders, and feted in a warm and often funny video spearheaded by ex-Councilman Sam Edgerton.
The tributes to Burrell were punctuated by applause, including a standing ovation, which forced him to endure vastly more public attention than he typically sought.
“It’s gone very fast, it’s hard to believe it’s been this long,” Burrell said.
“It’s been fun,” he added.
Former council members J.R. Reviczky and Kathy Dunbabin presented Burrell, 64, with an official city badge, noting that he never ordered one for himself while he was on the job.
“If someone asked ‘what do you do,’ I’d say I work at City Hall, and leave it at that,” Burrell said.
In the video, civic leaders including current and former council members praised Burrell’s savvy, his even-keel leadership and “the patience of Job” he displayed on the job.
They praised his guidance, and his ability to find funding sources for the downtown municipal parking structure, construction of thePier Plaza, a sweeping overhaul of upper Pier Avenue, and a complicated deal with Los Angeles County that led to construction of the seaside Beach House hotel and continued county lifeguarding of the beach.
They also praised his leadership in a revamping of Hermosa Valley Park and the creation of South Park.
“I can’t even imagine walking into the city manager’s office and not seeing you there,” Dunbabin said from the video screen.
“I’m happy for Steve, but it’s a loss for the community,” Reviczky added.
Burrell was presented with a commemorative plaque by Maureen Hunt, executive director of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, which sponsored the mayor’s address.
Burrell’s farewell tour had begun days before, at his final City Council meeting.
Council members gave him an attractively mounted tile with the city seal, a certificate of commendation, a Kindle Fire, and tickets to two Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim games – both games on Tuesday evenings, when he will no longer be sitting at the dais to the side of the council.
Burrell “didn’t just sit in his office. He loved this community, he was concerned about this community. Steve is Hermosa,” said Peter Tucker, the councilman with the longest service alongside Burrell.
Tucker also praised Burrell’s enthusiasm.
“He never said, I don’t think we can do that,” recalled Tucker.
“We can all say with certainty that the budget has been balanced for 18 years,” Fishman said.
“A city manager’s lifespan is usually seven years…There is a TV show – I don’t know if it’s still on – called ‘Survivor,’ and if we put Steve on the island he would win,” Fishman said.
“You’ve set an impossibly high standard for collaborating with the community,” Councilman Michael DiVirgilio said.
When officials were fretting over funding sources to remake upper Pier with wider sidewalks, new palm trees and a cutting edge storm drain system, Burrell told council members, “You guys put together the project you want, and I’ll find the money,” DiVirgilio recalled.
Burrell interjected that “there were a lot of people involved” in funding the project without city money.
Councilman Kit Bobko recalled Burrell’s calm words of comfort following a high-profile mediation session in the $750 million Macpherson Oil lawsuit that threatened to bankrupt the city, before it was settled last month. The mediation session left Hermosa officials “shell shocked,” Bobko said.
“Those were not the brightest days…We were staring down the barrel of a loaded gun,” Bobko said.
Burrell told him simply, “Don’t worry, there’s still a lot of time for something good to happen,” Bobko recalled.
“That’s universal among good leaders, a sense of optimism. Steve, you are one of the most optimistic guys I’ve ever met, and I think that optimism filters through your organization,” Bobko said.
Longtime City Clerk Elaine Doerfling, who sat at the end of the dais opposite Burrell for nearly two decades, bid farewell.
“It’s so long now that I’ve been looking across, and there’s Steve,” she said. “We’re really going to miss him.”
Members of the city’s Green Task Force presented Burrell with a solar oven about the size of a barbecue.
“I really have enjoyed all the time I have worked here, and I’ve enjoyed working with all of you, and the community,” Burrell said.
“When I got here I was still surfing,” he said. “It’s been a long time, but I will be surfing in the next few months.”
Burrell gave special nods to wife Janice — his “soul mate” — his kids and grandkids, and his longtime secretary Robin Maynard.
And he joined council members and other officials in their praise of Deputy City Clerk Jackie Nelson, who retired along with Burrell.
Burrell called his last days on the job “bittersweet.”
