Brent Stockwell, former assistant city manager in Scottsdale, Arizona, began his duties as Tigard's city manager on June 1. (Submitted photo/Kelsey Anderson/city of Tigard)

 

In his first month as Tigard’s new city manager, Brent Stockwell hit the ground running by exploring the city and talking with local residents.

He also started to get to know many of the city’s 370 city employees —, a big task but not as herculean as it was in his former city of Scottsdale, Arizona, where he spent the last decade as assistant city manager in a city that boasts 2,700 employees.

Still, Stockwell, who replaces former City Manager Steve Rymer, admits there’s “a lot of people to get to know and learn about the work that they do.”

“I get to go around and do ride-alongs with the police department and public works, and walking through the facilities and seeing all the different neighborhoods,” he said. “I’m excited about that. It’s great to come in and learn a new place, and it definitely feels like home here.”

 

Listening to people proves longtime passion

Among the things Stockwell hopes to accomplish in his first 90 days is having as many conversations as he can with residents.

“I’m going to listen and learn from those conversations. I want to work and collaborate with the community, so really get to know all the different organizations and people working in the community, and then respond to needs and deliver results,” Stockwell said.

Other issues he will address include the city’s aging infrastructure, pointing out that some of the city’s buildings were built before Oregon seismic code was put into place, with Tigard Public Library being the best place to survive an earthquake since it was built up to that code.

As such, in May the Tigard City Council approved the selection of an architect to draw up plans for a proposed new combined police and public works building set to be built on Wall Street, dependent on the passage of a bond that will be sent to voters in May 2026. 

 

Tigard Triangle, downtown Tigard focal points 

Stockwell began his career in public service in Scottsdale where he would spend 23 years — including 21 years in the city manager’s office working at seven different jobs. 

What’s struck Stockwell so far in Tigard is how proud residents are to live in the city.

“I’m impressed with the people,” he said. “I’m impressed with the environment, and there’s just a lot of good food here in Tigard as well.”

Having taken note of the city’s food scene, Stockwell has scouted out everything from Tigard’s downtown restaurants to the food carts to the farmers market to finding himself picking up ramen noodles or Thai food from the H Mart on Highway 99W.

Stockwell, who holds a certificate for completing Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program, said his other goal is to keep community members informed about what’s going on in Tigard, making sure the city is engaging or communicating with them.

Having focused in graduate school on how to communicate with residents on how local governments work, that’s his goal in Tigard.

The Tigard Triangle and downtown Tigard will remain on his list of areas to focus on as well during his tenure, Stockwell said, noting that the city recently purchased the former Regal Cinemas property where revitalization efforts will soon get under way in a city/private sector push to provide “more housing in the area, and a park because there’s not a park in Tigard Triangle,” he said.

In addition, the land purchase will provide a trail system through Red Rock Creek.

“So I think that’s exciting, and the good thing is Tigard has some tools that can be used to work with the private sector to redevelop that. It’s really nice to see all the housing that’s already occurred, but how do we really take that and form that into places that people really want to live so that Tigard is their first choice.”