City Managers' Consensus on the City Manager

Lake Forest is looking for a new City Manager since the old one retired a few months ago. We hired an executive search company and they gave us profiles of more than 50 applicants from which we chose 6 people, and on Friday we spent the whole day interviewing them. (This event was so important even Andrew Hamilton showed up).

The applicants came from all over the County and represented some really accomplished and experienced people. Our recruiter did a great job and I thought every one of them was capable of doing the job for us. We spent about an hour with each one, and at the end of the day it was apparent to me that we had just received a great lesson in how to run a city from people who had been there and done that.

I put together a synthesis of the best ideas. Most of these ideas were mentioned by several of the applicants, and I put these in bold letters.

FINANCIAL

• Assign all reserve monies to a category to avoid the State taking any “unassigned” funds (yes, I know this sounds a little paranoid, but a little paranoia never hurt anyone)
• Cooperate with nearby cities to coordinate bids on certain common expenses (landscaping, tree trimming, street sweeping, slurry seal, trash) so that savings can be achieved by significantly greater volume. To make this easier, each city could take the lead on each of the areas (e.g., Lake Forest negotiate tree trimming for all 5 cities).
• Anticipate federal infrastructure spending so we can get in early and quickly before the funds dry up.
• Look for ways to use state and federal funds for our expenses.
• Consider increase in hotel taxes to be sure we are competitive with neighboring cities.
• Stay on top of changing retirement rules so that our unfunded liabilities stay fully funded.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

• Hold goal setting meetings in different sections of the city at local HOAs or similar gathering places.
• Meet with major stakeholders (HOAs, major employers, SVUSD)
• Use “Pop-up City Hall” at events.

PUBLIC SAFETY

• Consider cost sharing arrangements with neighboring cities.
• Collective bargain on behalf of neighboring cities.
• Work with OCSD on cost containment
• Anticipate problems with Fire Authority if Irvine pulls out.
• Consider solutions to traffic problems around schools
• Review all emergency operations

STAFF CONCERNS

• Cut down on the size of reports and improve their quality.
• Make reports easier to read
• Tie together financial inducements with improved performance
• Analyze Public Works and Planning now that major OSA projects are finished. Restructure as needed to anticipate future demands.

CONTRACTS

• Reexamine animal care contract. Try to partner with neighbors.
• Increase quality control on contract agencies/companies
• Be sure guidelines and policies are responsive to current needs.

DEVELOPMENT

• Use General Plan revision as a way to open communication with property owners where re-development is needed.
• Have quarterly KPI for any General Plan changes.
• Understand the major changes in neighboring cities to anticipate impact on our traffic.
• Host a “Shopping Center Roundtable”
• Assign re-development and reinvention of retail to a senior staff member.

TECHNOLOGY

• Stay abreast of IT developments
• Increase use of social media
• Consider mobile apps

MISC

• Insure major projects stay on track
• Consider succession planning where relevant with staff approaching retirement
• Lake Forest is not an island. Work with neighboring cities.
• Protect the single family neighborhoods from the growth of alternatives which may negatively impact them

DÉJÀ VU

It was interesting to me to see that many of these ideas I advanced in the past, but they didn’t come to fruition. For example -

• I suggested more systematic collaboration with our neighbors in general by holding meetings with Councils and staff, but the idea was shot down.
• I suggested collaboration with our neighbors, particularly MV and RSM on public safety (we share the Sheriff’s substation with them), sharing services and cost containment, but the idea was shot down.
• I argued for a specific focus on our “run down” shopping centers to re-create the retail space in this new age of the Internet, but the Council decided a more general focus was better than a specific one.
• I pleaded to increase quality control on what we do (contracts and reports), but the idea was shot down. My colleagues believe that everything the staff does is great and shouldn’t be questioned by Council.
• I tried to re-examine the animal control contract. Everyone knows how that went!

I do have a number of ideas that are under consideration and were introduced recently –

• Creating a mobile app to improve communications between residents and the city (an article on that will come out soon).
• Planning for incorporating alternatives to single family residences into our policies without harming the fabric of our neighborhoods (City attorney still working on this one, but I expect it to come to the Council soon).
• Systematic meetings with major stakeholders (e.g., HOA Presidents, Church leaders, non-profit leaders) to communicate better between the City and the community. Under consideration.
• I’ve asked for a sub-committee of the Council to specifically address issues with SVUSD, including the possibilities of using buses to transport some children in schools that have severe traffic problems (e.g., Foothill Ranch, Serrano).

NEXT STEP

In the next week or so the Council will meet with the two finalists and hopefully negotiate a contract so that the new City Manager can start by May 1st.

In the meantime I have to mention how pleased I am with the job that Acting City Manager Debra Rose is doing. We are short of staff (not only did City Manager Dunek leave but another senior staff member left) but I believe we are actually doing more now and doing it at a higher level than ever before. Kudos to our staff for stepping up when we needed them to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be in May.