San Leandro City Manager talks projects and jobs ---  

Chris Zapata is on a mission. Appointed earlier this year as City Manager for San Leandro, he is the top administrator for the city government and likely the top promoter of the city as a place for business. Though responsible for implementing city policies, enforcing laws and regulations, supervising departments, and preparing the annual City budget, it is the city’s big projects that Zapata focuses on during his conversation with Vision Hispana. In a slow economy where job creation and tax revenue are critical priorities for any city government, Zapata’s focus is not surprising.

Supporting Zapata’s mission of bringing more businesses and jobs to San Leandro are several current projects:

• A new $800 million Kaiser hospital project that represents 2,500 jobs.
• Technology company OSIsoft is planning a $75 million expansion of its head office.
• A new village marketplace downtown represents an $11 million investment in the city.
• Lit San Leandro, a digital backbone loop of fiber optics for high-speed, broadband communications. The project received national attention earlier this year in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

“In an uncertain economy, there is a lot of optimism when you see projects such as Kaiser,” says Zapata, who arrived in the Bay Area about seven months ago.

The fourth-generation Mexican American is very familiar with the attributes of his new home city.

“The city is a world-class city and one of the most vibrant cities in the country,” he says.

“I am living in San Leandro, and I am already seeing what a well maintained, diverse and thriving community this is,” said Zapata shortly after his move.

Zapata’s business focus extends to the administration of the city government.

“The city as a government is just another company, but a public company with a $120 million budget,” he states.

During the last year, the city reduced its staff from 500 to 400 employees through attrition, which is a method where retiring employees are not replaced.

“We have had to act like a business to cut costs.”

One staff addition the City is making is a new position, Chief Innovation Officer, who will drive the City´s efforts to attract technology companies.  

“San Leandro is ready for the next start-up, the next Pandora,” adds Zapata.