Frank Gray, a planning boss from Scottsdale, Ariz., recognized for his international résumé, was introduced Tuesday on the west steps of City Hall as staffers and City Council members applauded.
For 20 years, the salt-and-pepper-bearded Gray has worked as a consultant to the council on issues ranging from transit-oriented development to the first Sugar House master plan.
"This department shapes our neighborhoods, our community areas and the marketplaces in our city," Becker said. Gray "brings decades of experience and service."
The hire ends a five-month nationwide search.
Gray, who starts immediately, replaces ousted Community Development Director Louis Zunguze, who was brought in under former Mayor Rocky Anderson.
Mary De La Mare-Schaefer, the acting director whom Becker praised for her leadership, now slides into the deputy role.
Gray inherits the beleaguered planning division, blistered in a recent audit for a decade of "dysfunction." His oversight also includes transportation, housing, building and licensing services, the arts council and economic development.
Gray says he has watched downtown morph over 20 years - the renaissance is what enticed him to take the job - and notes it is braced to become the true cultural center of the region.
"It was the DMZ 20 years ago," he quipped, before pointing out new downtown options for theater, night life and especially living spaces.
Nancy Boskoff, director of the city's Arts Council, beamed after Gray's appointment.
"He just seems to have really good energy," she said. "And when you combine that with his experience and intelligence, we're very excited."
Council members Soren Simonsen and Carlton Christensen, whose politics often are polarized, also commended the mayor's move.
Last month, Becker tapped longtime Downtown Alliance head Bob Farrington as director of economic development. Farrington's division will serve under Gray's direction.
Becker acknowledged the struggles and frustrations surrounding the planning division, but praised his new team of directors as a tonic. He said folding economic development under the community-development umbrella, particularly with Farrington and De La Mare-Schaefer on board, will be a boon.
"We are going to have an absolute stellar team leading this function," Becker said. "We are poised to have an incredible downtown."
djensen@sltrib.com
* Age: 63
* New position: Director of Salt Lake City's Department of Community and Economic Development.
* Salary: $138,000 a year.
* Education: Studied urban sociology at the University of Uppsala in Sweden before earning bachelor's and master's degrees in urban planning from California State University.
* Career highlights: General manager of the Department of Planning and Development Services in Scottsdale, Ariz., since 2005; previously served as planning and development director for Lakewood, Colo., Boulder, Colo., Petaluma, Calif.; worked as deputy director for Denver, where he helped plan that city's $2.5 billion airport; spent years developing planning and management systems across Europe.
