January 14, 2005

Public Works Director Katy Allen oversees largest capital improvement program in the state

Editor’s Note: The following is an article in an ongoing series about the city’s departments and appointed officials.

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

In a traditionally male-dominated job, Katy Allen defies gender stereotypes proving that she can be the city’s top builder and still wear stilettos, skirts and the occasional rugged hard hat.

San Jose Public Works Director Katy Allen is the city’s top builder. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

During an interview from her third floor City Hall office, Allen describes how she plans, designs and constructs San Jose’s buildings to enhance the quality of life of its residents.

As director of San Jose’s Department of Public Works (DPW), Allen oversees the largest capital improvement program in the state, building multi-million dollar libraries, community centers, roads, bridges and municipal buildings. San Jose also has the fifth largest capital improvement program in the nation.

“We’re the implementers of capital projects and infrastructure. We build things,” she explains. “We facilitate construction.”

This 49-year-old civil engineer says she naturally leaned toward building at a young age because of a great family support system that encouraged her to pursue her dreams regardless of which gender lines they crossed.

“I know it’s not typical for a woman to hold this job. It’s an oddity. I’m here to do a good job and I’m here to learn,” says the attractive and slim brunette with an ever-ready smile who exercises five days a week to deal with the job’s pressures. “I think life is a learning experience. I’ve had great male role models that have set the gender issue aside. It’s been exciting to be here.”

She does, however, appreciate the feminine side of her persona, which have helped her to be more nurturing, collaborative and anti-hierarchy.

The need for communication
Cautious not to generalize, she says being a woman helps her understand the need for communication and the importance of relationships and their value in building public improvement projects.

“I tend not to think in terms of hierarchy. I interact more on a horizontal plane,” she adds.

This mother of two grown sons says she came into the job with a strong desire to understand the department’s organization. Instead of being bureaucratic, Allen focused on harvesting energy, enthusiasm and innovation from all department workers—from inspectors to engineers.

“I’m so proud of the commitment and the talents that we have in our organization,” she says.

Born and raised in Whidbey Island, Wash., Allen began building things when she was a little girl. The daughter of a World War II Army nurse and a Navy electrical engineer, she was the middle of three children.

When she was in the second grade, just barely 7 years old, she dug through her father’s stockpile of lumber and plywood pieces and built a three-story tree fort in the woods behind her house.

Withstands winds
A Columbus Day storm with 100-mile-per-hour winds, which ripped into City Hall’s rooftop and destroyed many neighborhood houses, did not topple Allen’s tree fort.

“I loved to build things. I loved to pound nails and cut things. It was so cool that my tree fort withstood the storm.”
Math and sciences also attracted her. She loved the analytical part of problem solving. She clearly remembers her mother waking up the family the morning of July 20, 1969, to watch Neil Armstrong take his first step on the Moon. “I liked the science part of it. I like the flying thing.”

All cartoon figures from her era also flew, like Casper, Superman and Underdog. “I remember having dreams about flying to help people.”

Community service
In public works Allen has discovered her passions: building, science, flying and community service.

Allen has had a successful career in public service for 27 years. She thinks the most exciting part of her work is completing projects that advance the livability of communities.

She particularly enjoys seeing public works touch people’s lives on a daily basis such as the transportation project that reduces daily commute times or enhances pedestrian safety, or the library project that provides unlimited access to knowledge.

After graduating from Oak Harbor High School in 1973, Allen attended Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash., where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in math and economics in 1976.

In 1977 she began her career in Spokane as an engineer technician. Over the course of 24 years she rose to become the city’s top engineer. She was instrumental in building and operating an 880-mile water system and hydroelectric station that served a community of 400,000 people.

Civil engineer
In 1996, she obtained a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. She also received a master’s degree in public administration from Eastern Washington University, in Spokane, Wash.

In March of 2002, after the dotcom bubble burst, San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf hired Allen as the new director of the DPW. San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and the San Jose City Council unanimously approved her selection. She replaced Rajeev Batra, who had served as interim director of the DPW since November of 2000 following Ralph Qualls Jr., the former director who retired after serving the department for almost a decade.

There are a lot of differences between Spokane and San Jose, she says, including the amount of resources the community is willing to invest on its capital improvement projects. She believes San Jose is fortunate because its residents are willing to pass bond measures to fund critical capital programs.

The DPW is helping the city build facilities funded through three major bond programs such as a public safety bond, a park bond and a library bond. Allen is busy building new fire stations, police stations, community centers, parks and libraries.

“In addition to burying pipe in the street, building roads and signal works, we’ve really expanded it (public works) to a large vertical building type program where we’re really investing in the needs of the community,” she says. “The part that I love about my job is the community piece.”

She’s also grateful for the vast resources available in the city that make her job easy and she’s excited that the department’s huge workload is infusing the local economy by creating jobs.

“When we bid our projects, contractors have work, our local residents are employed,” she says.

Capital improvements
The city will encumber approximately $541 million in capital improvement projects during fiscal year 2004-05. The department has approximately 420 employees. Its five-year capital improvement budget is estimated at $3.5 billion, or about half a billion per year.

The department is charged with the development of municipal services for three core areas: construction of public facilities and infrastructure, private development and equality assurance.

The department has a transportation and development services division, an architectural services division, engineering and construction services division, airport division, real estate division, equality assurance division, Geographic Information Systems division and an administration division.

The department’s capital improvement projects include the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, the city’s 135 parks, public buildings, streets, transportation systems, storm sewers and sanitary sewers. It also regulates and facilitates private development by issuing encroachment permits, flood plain management, geologic hazard review, grading permits, parcel/tract maps and utility permits.

“We do a good job partnering with our client departments,” she says. “We’ve tried to build good relationships.”

She has seen her career change focus from car-oriented street building to more pedestrian friendly, and ADA compliance sensitive streets for seniors, families and even dogs. She loves being the top builder in a city held in high regard throughout the country for being innovative. “It’s not just the size of our capital program, but what our capital program means to our community,” she says. “It allows the city to be a better provider of community services.”

Lots of talent
She also feels fortunate to draw from a large array of talent from the Bay Area and the state. Allen praises her staff for being talented and committed to working together to get the job done.

“It’s an organizational culture that allows people to step in and help out. That connection to the community and collaboration drew me to San Jose. I’m honored to be a part of such a talented senior staff.”

When Allen joined the city, the department was in the last design phase for the ambitious new $343 million downtown high-rise City Hall above east Santa Clara Street. On one of her office walls hangs a picture of what she calls the “iron busters” or welders working on the 18th floor of the new City Hall building.

“It’s the skill, the trade and all of the great labor that we have that makes being here so exciting,” she says.
For more information on the DPW, 801 No. First St., Room 320, San Jose, Calif., 95110, call (408) 277-4333 or log onto www.sanjoseca.gov.