Rochester lost
one of its most outstanding public servants on Sunday with the death of Larry
Stid, the city’s deputy commissioner of community development.
A 27-year City Hall veteran, Stid had served as a city
planner, headed the city’s planning bureau for 16 years, and was appointed
deputy commissioner in 2003. In those positions, he amassed a staggering depth
of knowledge about Rochester, its
development, its challenges, and its people.
“He had more in his brain than most people have in their
filing cabinet,” said Rochester
Downtown Development Corporation President Heidi Zimmer-Meyer the morning after
Stid’s death. He “understood the pulse of the community,” said Zimmer-Meyer.
“He understood the way the community worked and what mattered to people and
could translate that into ways that affect public policy.”
“With him goes a tremendous amount of institutional
knowledge,” said Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson. “I can’t tell you how much I
relied on Larry.”
The reliance went far deeper than Stid’s knowledge — and
his willingness, as several associates said, to push the envelope. He was a
people person, able to relate to people and understand and respect conflicting
points of view. Faced with controversial city-planning issues and contentious
critics, Stid stayed calm, said Johnson, and would caution, “Just give them
time.”
“He had a genius for figuring out how to defuse potential
problems and be able to move forward,” said Johnson. “He was just one of the
smoothest people I’ve ever worked with in terms of the ability to get along
with people.”
Stid was a government employee intensely committed to public
participation. “He truly believed in involving people in the planning process,”
said Johnson. Stid, with his former boss, retired Community Development
Commissioner Tom Argust, was instrumental in the development of the city’s
Neighbors Building Neighborhoods process. And more recently, he had been
closely involved in the series of neighborhood planning charrettes. Stid spent
the day before his death working at the latest of those, focusing on East
Main Street.
And Stid was “a true gentleman,” said Argust. “He was low
key, behind the scenes — a person who had no ego. He was one of those true,
classic people who did his job and did it very, very well, and by doing it
within the context of public service, left an amazing legacy.”
“You never heard someone say an unkind word about Larry,”
said Johnson, “and you never heard Larry say an unkind word about anybody.”
“He had his heart in his work,” said Zimmer-Meyer. “He was
just a spectacular person.” And, said Zimmer-Meyer: “He will be impossible to
replace. They say people are replaceable, but I don’t think he is.”
This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2005.
