By George P. Hassett

The 2002 City of Oakland’s employee of the year will take over Somerville’s top development post. Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced this week he appointed Monica Lamboy of Washington D.C. to head the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD).

Lamboy currently serves as deputy director for permits and licensing in Washington D.C.‚Äôs department of consumer and regulatory affairs. She previously held senior positions with the cities of Oakland and Concord, California. She will manage Somerville‚Äôs planning, development, housing, and inspectional services functions.  She said she is looking forward to the job.
“Somerville has the opportunity to set a national standard for thoughtful, successful urban development that maintains local neighborhood identity while enhancing economic opportunity and quality of life,” said Lamboy, who holds a Master’s Degree in city and regional planning from the University of California-Berkeley and a B.S.E. in civil engineering from Princeton. “This is a job that requires both vision and day-to-day managerial follow-through – which is one of the reasons it appealed to me, and, Somerville is a great town with a strong sense of identity and community spirit.”
The development office has a staff of sixty and an annual budget that includes over $1.7 million in city funds and over $12 million in locally-administered federal grants. Lamboy will replace former development director James G. Kostaras who left the job in January.
Curtatone said the city will benefit from Lamboy’s experience and expertise in development.
  ‚ÄúHer energy, skill and experience are going to make a real difference as the city gears up to implement a complex and challenging Assembly Square development plan while also moving ahead on an ambitious agenda for sustainable economic development in Union Square, the Inner Belt and Brickbottom districts, and along the Green Line extension corridor across the city,‚Äù Curtatone said.
  As Deputy Director for Permits and Licensing in Washington, D.C., Lamboy initiated a comprehensive overhaul of the District‚Äôs building permit function, which had previously been known for long delays in processing and lack of customer information, Curtatone said. 
  Prior to taking over Permits and Licensing, she served as Chief Operating Officer of the city‚Äôs 1,300-member health department, where she prepared and managed an annual budget of over $1.5 billion while overseeing human resources, contracts and procurement, grants management, information technology and facilities management.   From 1992 to 2003, Lamboy worked for the City of Oakland, California, where she rose from the planning staff to become Chief Administrative Officer of the city‚Äôs Community and Economic Development Agency. 
  ‚ÄúMonica is a change agent who has succeeded in some very demanding situations,‚Äù Curtatone said. ‚ÄúShe‚Äôs going to be a great addition to the team.‚Äù