Del Smith leaving City Hall economic post

After little more than a year with the Warren administration, Delmonize Smith — the city's top economic development official — is leaving to return to academia.

Smith will step down at the end of next week. He has accepted an appointment as dean of a college of business and public affairs but declined to name the school other than to say it is down South because officials there have yet to make a formal announcement.

"The college pursued me. They have pursued me for quite some time," Smith said in an interview, explaining the first contact was around the time he joined the city.

Timing was the issue, he said, calling the job change a personal choice to be closer to his extended family. That, he told his staff, was most important.

Smith said he informed Mayor Lovely Warren of his decision several weeks ago. The administration confirmed his departure, and Smith informed his staff, in separate emailed statements on Friday.

In a statement, Mayor Lovely Warren said she is grateful for Smith's service.

"As a parent, I fully understand the importance of being closer to family," she said. "I respect Del's decision to accept an opportunity that allows him to follow his passion in academia while also being closer to his family. I wish him the best as he embarks on this new endeavor."

Kathleen Washington, deputy commissioner for the city's Neighborhood and Business Development offices, will take over on an interim basis. She has an MBA from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester.

Smith was considered one of the stars in Warren's cabinet, having been lured to City Hall from Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was a business professor and had been named to run RIT's Center for Urban Entrepreneurship.

He said he was neither frustrated nor discouraged by government work, crediting the team already in place at City Hall for easing his transition from RIT. He expressed confidence in that team and the administration, and Washington, saying he has met with her to go over any projects in which he had a high level of involvement. The two also have made the rounds with developers to ensure they are comfortable with the transition.

"We spent some time over the last couple weeks to plan for the smoothest transition possible," he said.

For the past year, Smith was the face of City Hall's economic development efforts, said Robert Duffy, president and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, who called Smith "smart, creative, innovative."

"I liked him personally, and respected him professionally," said Duffy, who led the state's regional economic development councils as the state's lieutenant governor and previously served as Rochester mayor.

The commissioner position is pivotal for the city, requiring an understanding not only of the business world, but also of community development and how poverty affects the local economy, said Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corp.

Smith's departure comes with a range of major development projects in the works, from CityGate to College Town to smaller commercial areas, Zimmer-Meyer said.

"There's a lot in motion right now and you don't want to lose that momentum," she said. "That commissioner is a key support not only for people outside City Hall, but for the mayor and her top people, and for City Council."

While the job shouldn't be left open for long, it's most important to find the right person for it, Zimmer-Meyer said.

While talking of the need for Warren to hire a "top-notch talent," and someone she is comfortable working with and who shares her vision, Duffy said a lot comes down to the developers themselves. They drive the process, he said, while crediting the Warren administration for doing a "very good job keeping the momentum going. … It's not an exact science."

One of those developers, Adam Driscoll of DHD Ventures, described Smith as very approachable and straight to the point.

"In our opinion, it's a big loss," said Driscoll, whose company is behind such projects as the Button Lofts and the conversion of a former downtown department store into a Hilton Garden Inn.

Smith's departure had been rumored inside City Hall for several weeks. Warren has spoken with potential candidates to replace him. She expects to make an appointment in the coming weeks, according to the city.

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/sharproc

DRILEY@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/rilzd