Hiring a City Manager might be the most important thing the current Council does. We must find someone who is prepared to develop our 36th Street corridor because we must increase our tax base. As we have learned throughout the stalled annexation process, we must do what we can to equalize our tax base while maintaining our quality of life.
The tax base is not the only reason to develop 36th Street, however. We also need to develop 36th Street because it is dangerous and not just unkempt, but kind of ugly. Our residents know about the businesses that are "little gems" on 36th Street, but because of its appearance and crime rate, visitors are not encouraged to stop and have dinner, spend money, stay the night, etc., etc., etc.
Where do we stand on the City Manager search? Our HR professional drafted an adverstisement and job description that was discussed at the special meeting on July 28, 2011. After some discussion, we agreed the requirements should include a Masters Degree with three years experience, a BA degree in Public or Business Administration with five years experience, or progressive experience in local government of at least five years. We also agreed that we needed to include "economic development" as one of the preferred characteristics.
Once the ads are posted and resumes begin to come in, the received resumes will be public record. There has been quite a bit of chatter about the process being "open" and "transparent." For goodness sakes, this is government, by law the process will be open and transparent. The reality is, after the resumes are received and catagorized by Human Resources, if a citizen is interested, he or she could request to see all the applications that were submitted and the spreadsheets that are prepared and presented to Council "drilling down" the applicants for comparasion purposes. Then, in this age of amazing technology, he or she could go to our website and WATCH the Council meeting and/or special meeting where the candidates are discussed and the decision as to who to interview is made. Finally, the candidates are going to be interviewed in public at a noticed meeting of the City Council.
Any resident or business owner that wants to be involved in the process can keep up with the process, attend the meeting where candidates are interviewed, and then even discuss his or her opinion with the individual Council members. Is this a great country or what? While I can't speak for the other council members, if you are interested and have a strong opinion as to a candidate, I want to hear from you. There is an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. In this case, I am not afraid to tell you, we will be better off if our village is interested, educated, and opinionated about the hiring of a City Manager.
The tax base is not the only reason to develop 36th Street, however. We also need to develop 36th Street because it is dangerous and not just unkempt, but kind of ugly. Our residents know about the businesses that are "little gems" on 36th Street, but because of its appearance and crime rate, visitors are not encouraged to stop and have dinner, spend money, stay the night, etc., etc., etc.
Where do we stand on the City Manager search? Our HR professional drafted an adverstisement and job description that was discussed at the special meeting on July 28, 2011. After some discussion, we agreed the requirements should include a Masters Degree with three years experience, a BA degree in Public or Business Administration with five years experience, or progressive experience in local government of at least five years. We also agreed that we needed to include "economic development" as one of the preferred characteristics.
Once the ads are posted and resumes begin to come in, the received resumes will be public record. There has been quite a bit of chatter about the process being "open" and "transparent." For goodness sakes, this is government, by law the process will be open and transparent. The reality is, after the resumes are received and catagorized by Human Resources, if a citizen is interested, he or she could request to see all the applications that were submitted and the spreadsheets that are prepared and presented to Council "drilling down" the applicants for comparasion purposes. Then, in this age of amazing technology, he or she could go to our website and WATCH the Council meeting and/or special meeting where the candidates are discussed and the decision as to who to interview is made. Finally, the candidates are going to be interviewed in public at a noticed meeting of the City Council.
Any resident or business owner that wants to be involved in the process can keep up with the process, attend the meeting where candidates are interviewed, and then even discuss his or her opinion with the individual Council members. Is this a great country or what? While I can't speak for the other council members, if you are interested and have a strong opinion as to a candidate, I want to hear from you. There is an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. In this case, I am not afraid to tell you, we will be better off if our village is interested, educated, and opinionated about the hiring of a City Manager.
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