Elected officials and city staff marked the opening of an immersive historical exhibit at Alviso Adobe Park on Oct. 26 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The City of Milpitas acquired the site near Piedmont and Calaveras roads in 1996 and opened the park to the public in 2013. The exhibit marks the final phase of the park’s development. Pictured from left are Assistant Civil Engineer Wenjing Wu, Capital Improvement Projects Manager Michael Silveira, Recreation and Community Services Director Renee Lorentzen, City Manager Steve McHarris, Councilmember Evelyn Chua, Mayor Rich Tran, Vice Mayor Carmen Montano, Police Chief Jared Hernandez, Assistant City Manager Ashwini Kantak, Planning and Neighborhood Services Director Ned Thomas, and Engineering Director Steve Erickson. (Photo by Mylene Stolpe/Charismatic Photography)
The Milpitas City Council recently voted to appoint city planning director Ned Thomas as acting city manager. The council previously formed a subcommittee to oversee the selection of a new permanent city manager. The subcommittee is actively working to launch a competitive nationwide search, which is estimated to take three to four months to complete.
Thomas has served as Milpitas planning director for since August 2018. His recent work includes updates to the Milpitas General Plan and Transit Area Specific Plan, as well as ongoing updates to the Midtown Specific Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Under his direction, the planning department has also received more than $3.5 million in state and local grants to fund long-range planning initiatives, establish a local on-demand transit service and create innovative online tools to help Milpitas residents navigate the development review process or locate a new business in Milpitas.
Thomas has more than 25 years’ experience in local government and public administration. Prior to joining the City of Milpitas, he served as a division manager and supervising planner in San Jose’s Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement. He also worked as community development director for the Town of Windsor in Sonoma County, where he directed work on the Windsor 2040 General Plan Update and oversaw development of major new residential and mixed-use projects in the historic downtown area.
In the Las Vegas area, Thomas worked as a planner and urban designer for the City of North Las Vegas and as principal planner for the City of Henderson. He was a member of the North Las Vegas Planning Commission and a founding member of Impact NV, a regional public-private nonprofit focused on promoting environmental sustainability in southern Nevada.
Originally published at Anne Gelhaus