Mayor Russ Trimble | Mayor Russ Trimble official website
Mayor Russ Trimble | Mayor Russ Trimble official website
Clyde Evans has announced that he will be retiring on July 17, 2023, after serving as the City’s Community and Economic Development Director for 32 years.
Before moving to Iowa in 1991, Evans was the Planning Director for the City of Palmdale, California, a fast-growing suburb of Los Angeles. Prior to this position, he was the Assistant Director for Advanced Planning for the City of Simi Valley, California.
During his tenure in West Des Moines, the City’s population more than doubled. Evans has been involved with numerous major projects such as Jordan Creek Town Center, five Microsoft data centers, the Sammons Financial Group new campus, Wells Fargo’s corporate campuses, Athene’s corporate headquarters, West Bank’s new headquarters just south of Valley West Mall and The Grand Experience, a 226-acre, $600 million planned development that may include a state-of-the-art indoor waterpark, a business conference center, a hotel, workforce and residential housing, retail and office space, and a family entertainment center.
Evans also played a key role in Valley Junction redevelopment efforts, including City programs and master planning efforts designed to attract and maintain businesses along Fifth Street, assist property owners in making needed improvements to their homes, and the successful transition of the Phenix Elementary School building to 17 live-work apartments for artists.
City Manager Tom Hadden said decades of contacts and institutional knowledge will be headed out the door when Evans retires. “It’s difficult to replace someone who has so much knowledge about our City,” he said. “We are certainly going to miss him and his insatiable drive to make things happen in West Des Moines.”
The City will be celebrating Evans’ career on Tuesday, July 11, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex, 6500 Grand Avenue. A short program will be held at 6 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend as we thank him and wish him well on his next adventure!
Original source can be found here.
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