The Monrovia planners are a pretty fun group.
Do you want to meet them?
Oh come on…we know you want to,
which is why we decided to take up some blog space to introduce them to you.
Monrovia Planners
Introducing Sheri Bermejo (Planning
Division Manager), Barbara Lynch (Senior Planner), John Mayer (Senior Planner),
Teresa Santilena (Associate Planner), Austin Arnold (Assistant Planner),
Vincent Gillespie (Planning Technician), Brenda Quezada (Planning
Technician), and last but not least our Community Development Director Craig Jimenez.
We are really a fun team and we have
a great sense of humor! However, rest assured that our hearts are focused daily
on good planning efforts for the City of Monrovia. Below is a little bit about each of your
planners.
Sheri Bermejo, Planning Division Manager
Sheri has been with the City of Monrovia for almost four
years, and is in love with this amazing community. She has been a city planner for over fourteen
years, and has a degree in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of
California San Diego. She speaks Spanish
(almost) fluently and loves to practice the language. (Please don’t get her started…she tends to get carried away and is known
to even make up words.)
When asked, what is the first thing she
considers when reviewing architectural plans for a new development, her
response is, “the people.” Sheri makes every effort for her team to never
lose sight of the human aspect in every project proposal. There is always an
important personal reason why someone is going through a home addition, desiring
to build an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit), or even seeking to open a new
business. She makes every effort to understand every individual’s personal need
to ensure a successful project. While buildings visually enhance our physical
environment, they also serve a greater human need for the individuals in our
community, whether it be a senior citizen, a worker, a child, a person living
with disabilities, a resident, or a business owner.
As you can imagine, planners, get
the opportunity to learn about many new and innovative land use proposals. We
asked Sheri, if she felt there was a type of land use proposal that was missing
here in California…her answer was Yes!
It would be great if California had specialized
respite care and hospice homes for children and their families. Sheri is a
special needs mom and is driven to help to facilitate the development of such place
which could benefit families across Southern California.
Barbara Lynch, Senior
Planner
How many years does it take a
planner to be the best they can be? If
the number of years makes a difference Barbara is at her best! Barbara
joined the City in 1976 (not a typo) following her graduation from Cal Poly
Pomona where she was one of seven women in the planning program. She has been a planner for the City for over
43 years. However, to clarify this just
a bit they were not all full time years.
Barbara and her coworker chose to job share for several years to allow
them to spend time with their growing families. Barbara returned back to work
full time once her youngest graduated from high school.
Planning was a male dominated
field when Barbara entered the planning profession and she has watched it
evolve to a more balanced profession of both women and men. Currently, Monrovia has 3 ½ women Planners
(okay Barbara’s part-time again) and 3 male Planners. Barbara says “we’re winning!”
As a planner and resident of
the City, Barbara has seen from start to finish what good planning practices
can do for a community. She has seen the
historic old town transition from sleepy to vibrant. She says there were literally chickens
running loose on East Huntington Drive before the area was redeveloped in the
80’s. Barbara is proud to have been a
part of the planning process that helped Monrovia become the City it is today.
She is always full of stories and truly enjoys sharing them.
John Mayer, Senior Planner
John has been with the City for a little over a year, and is
extremely proud to work for a charming city like Monrovia. He believes that the City’s planning efforts
contribute towards a good quality of life for its citizens and businesses. With the relentless pressure for development,
John believes that unique cities like Monrovia can grow and change while
retaining its status as the “gem of the foothills”. John is interested in the way planners can
protect the small town character and how individual projects and new
construction can be stitched into the existing fabric of the city. He believes the value of planning is through
protecting the scale and appearance of any particular neighborhood. John is certified through the American
Institute of Certified Planners and holds Degrees in Public Administration and
Urban and Regional Planning.
Teresa Santilena, Associate Planner
Teresa has been with the City for 6½ years, and spent a year
and a half in the Public Works Department before moving over to the Planning
Division. Though Planning is her passion, that time in Public Works has given
her a unique perspective and insight into how private property and public
spaces work together to create this great community. Teresa went to UC Irvine
for her Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP… kind of sounds like the
sound an exotic bird would make, doesn’t it?) when she decided that the
financial industry was not for her and she wanted to do work that was more
community oriented.
Teresa loves to travel and likes to
take tours to see how cities have responded to their unique challenges through
the built environment. Yes, she really is a Plan-nerd! She would love her next
trip to take her to Panama so that she can say she hiked from the Atlantic to
the Pacific in one afternoon. And, of course, to see that famous canal in
action!
If you were to ask Teresa what she
likes about being a planner, she would tell you that she likes that every day
is a new and different challenge and uses different parts of her brain… the
analytical, the creative, and, best of all - the social! If you were to delve a
little deeper into her psyche, though, you’d discover that understanding how
the world around her was developed gives Teresa a sense of security and makes
her feel like a part of something bigger.
Austin Arnold, Assistant Planner
Austin has been with the City of Monrovia for over three
years. Prior to that, he worked for the City of Rosemead and the City of Chino.
His Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning came from a strong background at Cal
Poly Pomona for three years and finished at the University of Utah. He loves that
Planners work together for a better future; the fact that they get to review
all aspects of a project to help fulfill and create both the short and long-
term goals and polices of the General Plan.
Austin recently got married in Maui,
HI in February to his wife Mariana Attia-Arnold. At the same time, they also
bought a house together in the City of Azusa. You may see Austin riding his
bike around town as he has become full eco-friendly and has ditched the
automobile to ride the Goldline and his bicycle to and from work! Austin loves
movies and spending time with his wife planning different trips around the
world.
Vincent Gillespie, Planning Technician
Vincent has been with the City of
Monrovia for a year and a half, and prior to that, the City of Claremont and Temple City. He
graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Vincent believes that planning and design are opportunities for Planners to positively influence
the way people live. Individual buildings, neighborhoods, and public spaces are
the canvas on which Planners craft their art.
You may see Vincent walking around
the downtown area and strolling through the residential neighborhoods taking in
all the sights and sounds. In his free time, he enjoys traveling to different
cities, graphic design, free-hand sketching, and photography, as well as
exploring the City of Monrovia on his lunch breaks. Some of his favorite places
to visit in Monrovia are the tree-lined streets of the Wildrose Historic District,
the many ice cream and coffee shops in Old Town (Yum!), and the wide open
spaces of Library Park.
Brenda Quezada, Planning Technician
Brenda is the newest member of the Planning Division having
started less than six month ago. She has a degree in Urban and Regional
Planning from Cal Poly Pomona. After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona, Brenda
started interning for the Cities of Pasadena, Los Angeles, and Burbank. Brenda
quickly realized that Planning involves a multitude of tasks that can become
great opportunities for learning new skills along with building rapport with
colleagues and city residents.
Brenda lives in the Santa Clarita
Valley and enjoys volunteering for her local Habitat for Humanity agency when
she has some free time. This summer, Brenda volunteered for the new Habitat
homes on Lomita Avenue in Glendale where she got to help put framing together
and do some landscaping.
Craig Jimenez, Community Development Director
And last but not least.....our fearless Community Development Director, Craig Jimenez, has been with the City for almost a quarter of a century. He wears many hats and shepherds the Building, Neighborhood Services and Planning Divisions. Craig attended Cal Poly Pomona and has a degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He is also certified through the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Craig is a teacher at heart and encourages all of his staff to continue to learn by providing us the opportunity to attend conferences and trainings to further our growth. Aside from being a peanut butter aficionado and Halloween enthusiast (NOT!), he also loves old fashioned black and white movies (if you see him, ask him what he has seen recently).
