When I was 3 years old, my family moved from my birthplace in Redding, Calif., to a place my parents had never even heard of, let alone visited. My dad was working for Shasta County at the time but had landed a job at the County of Monterey. Not only would he be making more money, but my mom was relieved to leave a place she really disliked. She’d grown up in the San Jose area and was not accustomed to — nor a fan of — the extreme temperature changes. The bitter cold during winter and 100-plus-degree days in the middle of summer were unbearable.
My parents, older brother and I set off to Salinas. We rented a small apartment in south Salinas on Acher Street, close to Central Park. I remember walking there with my mom and brother, where we could splash around in the tiny wading pool and play on the old steam train engine.
After a year or so of apartment life and getting to know the area, and with my mom loving the much more pleasant climate and thinking this was where we would be long-term, my parents bought a home in Prunedale. So, we said goodbye to the park, but hello to our own house with a big yard and kids who lived nearby who would become lifelong friends.
I was probably 9 or 10 years old when I finally realized what my dad did at the Monterey County Planning Department as a senior planner. Well, I didn’t know exactly what his job entailed, but I figured out he wasn’t a PLANTER, but a PLANNER. All those overheard conversations between him and my mother, and him saying that he was “out in the field today” or had to figure out directions to some out-of-the-way rural location in southern Monterey County. Any travel “into town” from Prunedale meant passing rows of crops, and stopping to buy fresh produce at stands was commonplace. So, for me, telling people my dad was a planter made perfect sense.
We went to my dad’s office in south Salinas one day to meet him for lunch, and I must have been paying a bit more attention than on previous visits. I realized the sign on the building read “Planning Department” and the light bulb finally clicked for me. Of course, then the obvious question: what on earth are they planning and why does it take so many people? The building was huge, with loads of people bustling around carrying big rolls of paper. Drafting tables were covered with maps and plans, and lots of conversations were happening about parcels, and lots, and subdivisions.
I later learned that within those walls, plans were reviewed and permits were processed for housing developments, shopping centers and other projects, and that my dad was an integral part of the process. He always had great stories about dealing with some real characters, most of whom wanted things done more quickly than was possible. He encountered a few famous people at the county building, and he frequently relayed a story about running into James Garner in the hall and seeing other famous actors and actresses who wanted to build homes on the Peninsula but needed the proper paperwork processed before they could begin their projects.
In the late ’80s, much of my father’s work time was dedicated to the Prunetree Shopping Center off Vierra Canyon Road. My dad’s younger sister, Aunt Cheryl, visited numerous times before, during and after the shopping center’s construction. She always wanted an update from my dad and wanted to see what was happening there. She was so fascinated by the process and hung on to my dad’s every word about the intricacies of commercial development. For many years afterward, she proudly told anyone she met when we would shop there, “My brother built this shopping center!” Or she would refer to it as “Wes’s shopping center.”
Decades later, in 2003, I found myself working in commercial real estate for a local developer. That opened my eyes to the challenges my dad faced daily at the office before he retired in 1998 after nearly 30 years “behind the desk.” Now, I was working for one of the well-known developer “characters” showing up with rolls of plans, hoping some knowledgeable staff member could help expedite our project. As project manager, I was tasked with keeping construction of the shopping center on track once the plans had been approved.
And so it was that after many meetings with county officials as well as the planning department in the City of Soledad, the Department of Fish and Game, the Army Corps of Engineers, architects, contractors, soil surveyors and lawyers, numerous revisions of plans, negotiating leases with prospective tenants, that the Soledad Mission Shopping Center finally went from a vision on those rolls of plans to a reality.
It was fun to talk with my dad about the process as it happened and to share perspectives from both sides of the journey. When I complained about things taking longer than we’d hoped, delays and change orders, he reminded me to expect the unexpected and that staying on track was always difficult. Since he was retired by then, he wasn’t involved, but he knew all the players — including my boss with whom he’d worked on several other projects over the years.
My Aunt Cheryl was, of course, impressed when she learned I was involved in commercial construction, and she would ask me, “How’s your shopping center coming along?” She never visited the center in person but lovingly referred to it as “My niece’s shopping center” in conversations with friends, neighbors and probably anyone she sat beside when she took the bus or train down our way to visit from Santa Rosa.
Although my career eventually took me in a different direction, I remember that experience fondly. I learned a great deal and met a lot of people — some of whom seemed determined to make things more difficult than necessary. Most, however, were smart, professional and willing to take extra time to explain why plans sometimes had to change unexpectedly and help figure out the best way to deal with those changes. My boss was not a fan of delays, as they usually translated to increased costs. But we persevered, and the center continues to thrive 20 years later.
I smile when I visit or pass the Prunetree Shopping Center (Wes’s shopping center) and Soledad Mission Shopping Center (my shopping center), because I am reminded of my dad and how his planning job landed us in one of the most beautiful areas in the world, Monterey County.
Columnist Dana Matthews may be reached at ar***@*****st.net.
