Petaluma parks ‘rose from the ashes’ under Brodhun

The demands of working in a city manager’s office rarely ceased for Scott Brodhun, and often he’d be at home after a long day with his mind racing on thoughts about the next one.

Thankfully, however, things have slowed down. The lifelong parks advocate and 35-year public servant retired from his post as Petaluma’s assistant city manager last month, capping a 12-year term that began in May 2007 as director of Parks and Recreation.

Since Brodhun’s last day on Aug. 22, his wife Tracie of over 38 years, and his family that lives in the area have had his undivided attention, he said.

“I wasn’t present much mentally. I was always thinking about the next day’s work,” Brodhun, 62, said. “I’ve enjoyed being present (since my retirement). That’s felt good.”

Brodhun was raised in Port Angeles, Wash., a community of now more than 19,000 people situated on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Washington University where he played baseball at the NAIA level.

His career began in his hometown as the city’s recreation coordinator in 1984 where he was tasked with rejuvenating a sector of the local government that had essentially been abolished, Brodhun said.

The next year, the Parks and Recreation Department’s director unexpectedly resigned and Brodhun was suddenly appointed as the replacement.

Over the next 17 years the agency found success under his stewardship, leaning on state grant funds and a cycle of continued investment thanks to tax revenue from park-related tourism. Park services “rose from the ashes to become a real envy,” Brodhun said, with roughly 400 acres of parkland transformed at 35 different sites, and an abandoned railroad line converted into what later became a 60-mile regional bike path.

Port Angeles was a hub for sports tournaments, attracting baseball and basketball teams for events that would bring as many as 40 visiting teams to the community, Brodhun said. As a youth baseball coach for almost three decades, he helped shape several local leagues.

“It was an economy in and of itself,” he said.

For seven years Brodhun served as the director of facilities, maintenance, athletics and technology for the Port Angeles School District. Once his daughters, Lynzie and Lexie, had gone off to college, he began exploring new opportunities out of the area, which led him to Petaluma.

When he arrived in 2007 to lead the parks department, the city was nearing the Great Recession, resulting in staff cuts and service reductions across the agency.

After Brodhun was appointed as assistant city manager in April 2009, he was heavily involved in the austerity efforts with former City Manager John Brown, which Brodhun described as a “hard and heart wrenching” period.

During the worst of the financial meltdown, city reserves plummeted from $8.5 million to $5,000 in 2011. General Fund spending was reduced, departments like planning were outsourced and staffing was slashed by more than 20%.

Even though city services declined, the needs in the community never wavered, Brodhun said. As a self-described “generalist” that served in numerous capacities during his tenure, Brodhun took a creative approach to maintaining aging facilities or completing projects, often leaning on partnerships in Petaluma’s robust nonprofit and private sector.

That formula led to several undertakings he viewed as career highlights.

Thanks to a partnership with Mentor Me, the crumbling Cavanaugh Recreation Center received much-needed improvements.

The city was able to use the construction of the East Washington Place shopping center to spur the developer to invest in the aging Petaluma Swim Center. Parking was adding, the deck was extended, the 1960s boiler was replaced and PG&E retrofitted new lighting, a comprehensive renovation that resulted in a longer season for local swimmers. The city was also able to contract with an operator, freeing up resources for other facilities.

Brodhun strengthened the partnership with the Friends of the Petaluma River, which helped introduce new programming at the David Yearsley River Heritage Center at Steamer Landing Park.

Uniting with the Wetlands Alliance gave way to greater management of Shollenberger Park, and the alignment with the Petaluma Small Craft Center has bolstered river recreation. Soon, that partnership will result in the upcoming floathouse and community boathouse.

Brodhun also helped bring the Miracle League special needs baseball field and playground that opened earlier this year at Lucchesi Park, and charted the path for the $25 million Petaluma Community Sports Fields, a 26-acre multi-use complex that provided a home for the community’s overflowing soccer leagues.

“It was through those relationships that we could meet the needs that existed,” Brodhun said. “Just because we didn’t have money didn’t mean we didn’t have needs. At the same time, we recruited well and selected well and managed to retain (talent) on the recreation side. It’s an extraordinarily strong staff that can get enormous things done.”

Naturally, there are also the things that didn’t get accomplished.

The Polly Klaas Performing Arts Center, a 108-year-old building located in a triangular block at the intersection of English, Post and Western streets, has been shuttered and in disrepair since 2000. Before retiring, he had been working on a transfer agreement that would give the Polly Klaas Foundation ownership of the property to help bring it back to life.

“I think that’s imminent and will move forward but I couldn’t get it done before I was done,” Brodhun said. The city council is expected to review the transfer next month.

As near and dear as any pending project, the Community Sports Fields are still in the design phase of the baseball field additions. Brodhun has lamented the lack of amenities for players that graduate Little League, and anticipates Petaluma becoming a tournament hub and a magnet for sports tourism similar to Port Angeles.

“The fact that the American Legion Leghorns didn’t play a game in town, that doesn’t fit right and doesn’t feel right,” he said. “I’m excited for that design to get completed and the project to start.”

Brodhun’s departure is another significant marker in the ongoing transition at the city manager’s office where Petaluma’s top two unelected officials have changed over the past year. Brown, who retired after a decade last November, was succeeded by Peggy Flynn in February.

The city recently announced Petaluma resident Brian Cochran, the Finance Director for the City of Napa, as the new assistant city manager. His first day is Oct. 16.

“We were fortunate and thankful to have benefited from Scott’s expertise for the last 12 years,” Flynn said. “He left an impactful legacy that will live on - especially in our city parks and recreation programs - for years to come.”

For now, Brodhun said he and his wife intend to stay in Petaluma so he can be close to his family and play golf with his 11-year-old grandson, Ace.

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)