Roseville assistant city manager ends 27-year career

On Dec. 16, the city of Roseville welcomed former Sacramento Community Development director Ryan Devore as Roseville's new assistant city manager. Devore worked for the city of Sacramento for 15 years, starting out as an assistant engineer in the Community Development Department. He was the Sacramento Community Development director for five-and-a-half years. Devore succeeds retiring Roseville Assistant City Manager Kevin Payne. Payne joined the city in 1990. "I am very thankful to have this time with him (Payne) to learn about what he has been working on with his experience here and just his advice as I move into the role," Devore said. When Payne began working with the city almost 30 years ago, Roseville's total population was just 45,000-plus. "So there was a lot of development that was done to position the city to grow for the future and that was one of the things that attracted me because I wanted to be involved in a community that was looking toward the future and to grow," Payne said. Along with watching the city grow, Payne also witnessed the rapid change of how operations are carried out at the Civic Center. "So when I started here in 1990 in the Planning Department, there was one computer," Payne said. "We hand-wrote all of our staff reports and handed it to the clerk and she typed it up on the computer or the typewriter." Payne worked with some very large Roseville developments, such as the Auto Mall, Galleria Mall, Del Webb and the first major residential subdivision in the north central area. Payne "is most proud" of being part of Roseville's Redevelopment Agency and its work revitalizing downtown. "I enjoy remodeling so it was like remodeling on a large scale and it involved a lot of public input," Payne said. "I am excited for the future and how Ryan (Devore) and the city team will move that forward from where we are at today." While working in Sacramento, Devore also worked on projects to redevelop and revitalize parts of that city. "Probably one of the more significant ones to me was that I was the project manager for the Citizen Hotel, which was a conversion of a sparsely-occupied business building in the central city right at J and 10th Street," Devore said. Devore has observed Roseville's downtown revitalizing work. "I have been impressed with Roseville's downtown and the efforts that have already been done here," Devore said. "I definitely look forward to what has been done already and maybe some of the opportunity to continue the great work that has already been started." "I hope that I can bring a thoughtful, level-headed and customer-focused approach to my area of responsibility and I am really excited about getting going," Devore said. According to Payne, he and his wife's plans include travel and home renovations. Payne also plans to return to coaching football after a long hiatus, due to work. "I think I have got the green light from her (my wife) to go back and coach football, which is something that I wanted to do while I was working at the city," Payne said. "I am very passionate about the game and working with young people and so that is something I am actively pursuing." Payne played for Stanford University until a 1985 injury during practice prematurely ended his senior season. "I have developed some great friendships and some great memories," Payne said. "I have had the ability to work on some phenomenal projects and the people here are one of the best assets we have in both the city employment and the public."