Mike Bierman, former Petaluma city manager, dies at 66

Former Petaluma City Manager Mike Bierman, a veteran of large municipal government who led Petaluma through a major revitalization of its downtown core before retiring in 2007, died on Monday, according to the city manager’s office. He was 66, and was said to have been battling cancer in recent years.

The Ohio native was hired to the city’s top post on an interim basis in 2002, having most recently worked as deputy city manager for his native city of Cincinnati. He had also previously worked as city manager of Columbia, S.C. and Fresno, and was appointed as permanent city manager for Petaluma in 2003.

Bierman was said to bring big-city perspective to small-town Petaluma, and is widely credited for setting the tone of the long-term planning policy that has guided the renewal of the downtown area and the Petaluma River waterfront.

“He put Petaluma on the map,” said former Councilman Mike Harris, who left office in January after 12 years on the council. “As people talk about Petaluma, they really talk about its soul, about its downtown, about its riverfront. We wouldn’t have that without Mike.”

It was in 2003 that Petaluma, under Bierman’s tenure, adopted the Central Petaluma Specific Plan, a high-profile document outlining the city’s development goals and parameters for the downtown area. The plan paved the way for housing, mixed-use development, public spaces and public transportation, all with a goal of refocusing attention on the Petaluma River.

Perhaps the single largest realization of that vision has been the Theatre District, a $100 million mixed-use development by Basin Street Properties that revived a once-bustling wharf on the southern end of the downtown area.

“That really energized him,” said Councilman Mike Healy, who first joined the council in 1998.

Healy also credited the former city manager for what he called “a huge conceptual breakthrough” involving the $110 million Ellis Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was in the planning stages during Bierman’s tenure and became fully operational in 2009. The plant opened a year ahead of schedule, following Bierman’s recommendation to tweak its location to avoid a planned and lengthy operation to drain a pond at the site, he said.

The plant has since proven to be a crucial resource as Petaluma adjusts to mandated reductions in water use during California’s historic drought. Highly treated wastewater from the facility, which is used for irrigation at several large landscaped properties on the east side of the city, is not subject to restrictions from the state.

“Fortunately we were forward thinking on that,” Harris said.

Bierman also led the city during the nearly-final phase of a $40 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to shore up flood protection along the Petaluma River, spurred after rising waters inundated the city’s Payran neighborhood in the early 1980s. Around 3,600 feet of floodwalls and channel improvements east of the Lakeville Street Bridge were completed in 2005, with a final, 100-foot stretch expected to be completed later this year.

Bierman was appointed by unanimous vote of the city council. He is succeeded by John Brown, who has served as Petaluma’s city manager since 2008.

Petaluma Mayor David Glass also credited Bierman for maintaining a sense of humor during his time in Petaluma, a trait he may have honed at the city of Cincinnati while Jerry Springer, host of the famously inflammatory talk show, was mayor.

The former city manager was a rallying point for the staff and elected officials who have contributed to various projects during those years, he said.

“It definitely, in my mind, would not have happened without Mike Bierman at the table,” said Glass, who was first elected in 2002.

Bierman is survived by his two children, Christine and Stephen, and his wife, Roberta. The family is planning a private funeral, with a memorial service in Cincinnati.