Poway City manager to retire

Jim Bowersox, the only city manager in Poway’s 24-year history, is retiring.

Bowersox made the announcement that he would retire this December during Tuesday night’s Poway City Council meeting. By choosing to retire in December, Bowersox made sure that he would not miss celebrating the 25th anniversary of Poway incorporating as a city.

Hired in March 1981, just three months after Poway became a city, Bowersox, 58, has been at the helm of the city’s transition from a small, rural town with very few amenities into a vibrant city with a thriving industrial park, an impressive library, a top-notch performing arts center and many other features associated with high-quality cities.

He is admired and respected by his peers from other cities throughout the county, by the mayor and City Council he works for and by his employees. Evidence of that fact was made clear by the response of the council and audience members Tuesday night.

“We have been incredibly fortunate to have Mr. Bowersox for so long,” said Mayor Mickey Cafagna. “This is very saddening for us. Jim has certainly earned his retirement.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of sitting beside him for 22 years now,” said Steve Eckis, the city’s special counsel and former city attorney. “I know tonight’s announcement was bittersweet for him because he loves this city a great deal.”

Founding Councilman Bob Emery, who helped hire Bowersox, said that he recently found an old note from the interview that read, “He gets it!” Emery said those three simple words are indicative of Bowersox’s job performance during the past 24 years.

“We did it right, we made the right decision and we got the right guy,” Emery said.

Councilman Don Higginson, who has served on the panel almost as long as Emery, said that Bowersox is “a man of great integrity,” who has put “his stamp on the city more than anyone else has.”

Councilwoman Betty Rexford, who was a community activist before running for office, said that Bowersox has been like a mentor to her.

“I’m kind of sad for Poway, but it’s good you’re going to retire and enjoy yourself,” Rexford told Bowersox.

In an interview in December 1999, Bowersox said helping to start up a new city was no easy task.

“The county let Poway develop through benign neglect,” Bowersox said. “They left us with a whole slew of problems.”

One of the first major changes overseen by Bowersox was the decision to increase law enforcement by 30 percent during Poway’s first year. The city now consistently boasts one of, if not the, lowest crime rate in the county year after year.

Despite numerous accolades from his peers, Bowersox was modest when it came to taking credit for the city’s successes.

“My role was mostly helping the council with their ideas by making them happen,” he said.

Upon his retirement, Bowersox plans to stay in the Poway area for at least another four to five years, while his wife finishes up her career in state government and his youngest child finishes up at Poway High.

“It’s one of those things that when you ask ‘why are you doing it,’ you say ‘because I can,’” Bowersox said. “It’s one of the things you go to work for.”