Wednesday night the Council will meet in a special closed session to move forward on the selection of a new City Manager. It’s relevant to talk about the qualities we should look for in a new City Manager. Needless to say we want someone who can manage, who knows the laws, behaves in an ethical manner, etc. These are qualities that all cities need. Here are some things to consider which are unique to someone coming to our City.
LIVE IN LAKE FOREST
The new City Manager should commit to moving to Lake Forest, within 2 or 3 years of taking the position. It makes no sense to me that the person guiding our futures should not share in the pain or the gain.
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LOOKING TO MAKE A MARK
I’m looking for someone who sees this position as an opportunity to make his/her mark. I’m not interested in someone who will be a good squire or who will manage things. I want someone who wants to do something terrific and sees this position as the opportunity to do that.
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BUSINESS ORIENTATION
I want someone who views City government as a business, albeit a unique business. The new City Manager should apply the best and latest techniques for business management to run our City: preferably someone who actually held a job in a profit/loss environment at some time in their life.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Along with a general business orientation I’m looking for someone with a distinct customer service orientation. City government is there to serve the residents, not itself. I want someone who is committed to providing “excellent” service in all areas and who imbues his/her staff with this desire. We should always be asking “How can we do that better?” rather than question “We’ve never done that before!”
CONTRACT EXPERIENCE
Because more than 60% of our expenses are contracts, the new Manager needs to have experience working in a contract environment, especially negotiating skills. I’d like someone who is able to negotiate a contract without having to amend it constantly, so that we have a better idea of just how much we are spending.
REVITALIZATION SKILLS
I’m looking for someone who has the skills to lead us in a complete re-vitalization of our retail offerings, not only by creating a destination center but by improving retail at all levels, especially the strip malls which seem to be in decline.
LAND USE SKILLS
There are many City owned parcels that have languished over time. We need a City Manager who is able to get a complete inventory of City land and help the residents and the Council develop long term plans for optimum land utilization.
NON-POLITICAL
Given the history of schisms among Council members and between different parts of the City, the new City Manager needs to be skilled in avoiding even the appearance of taking sides.
SUMMARY
No one person will have all these abilities, and no one skill is so important that it dwarfs all the rest.
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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 January at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.
