I’m pleased to announce that Ms. Janet B. Jeremiah, AICP, of Victoria has accepted my offer to become Eden Prairie�s new Community Development Director. Ms. Jeremiah, who is currently the Planning and Zoning Supervisor for the City of St. Louis Park, will assume her new duties on May 3, 2004
The Community Development Director position existed in our municipal organizational structure in the 1970’s, 1980’s and for most of the 1990’s, but its duties were combined, by a previous City administration, with the Finance Director’s duties in the late 1990’s into a position called the Service Area Director for Community Development and Financial Services. This position was held by former City Director of Management & Budget Mr. Don Uram. That title was part of a reorganization that I initiated.
When Don left the Director of Management & Budget position last year, I reorganized it again to split the “public finance” duties from the “community development” duties. I did so with a look to a more traditional organizational structure - which produced the traditionally titled: Community Development Director position.
The Community Development Director will be a member of my senior management team. That team currently includes Police Chief Dan Carlson, Fire Chief George Esbensen, Director of Public Works Gene Deitz, and the Director of Parks & Recreation Bob Lambert. The Community Development Director will, among other duties, coordinate and supervise the activities of the following divisions: Planning, Assessing, Economic Development, and Housing & Human Services.
Among the things that I liked about Ms. Jeremiah was her recent experience managing the $130 million Excelsior & Grand redevelopment in St. Louis Park, which is phase one of the 125 acre Park Commons town center project. Excelsior & Grand integrates 85,000 square feet of retail space with 40,000 square feet of office space and 660 housing units. If you haven’t seen this project, I want to encourage you to see it. This type of project is in our future in Eden Prairie. The Excelsior & Grand project was awarded the 2001 City Business Journal�s �Best in Real Estate� award, and honors from professional planning and community development organizations.
Ms. Jeremiah is a 1983 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is completing her Masters of Planning in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, and is accredited by the American Institute of Certified Planners, (AICP). In addition to her work in St. Louis Park, Jeremiah has held community planning positions in Brooklyn Park and Bloomington. She has won more than a half dozen awards for her planning and community development work in St. Louis Park and Bloomington. She is also past chair of the City of Victoria’s Planning Commission.
We are fortunate to have attracted someone of Ms. Jeremiah�s experience and ability to our team. She has a great professional background in the area of urban redevelopment, and I think that is a talent that we are going to make great use of in Eden Prairie during the next decade.