City of Davison, Michigan

With the position of City Manager open in Davison and our recruiter accepting resumes I have received some interesting inquires of what makes a successful city manager.

In today’s economy, there are a lot of people looking to switch careers and try something new. I must say a career in City Management is different from most things one might try.

There is going to be a large need for city managers in the near future, as the “baby boomers” retire the need for competent management will increase. I attempt to review with people who inquire the skill sets and challenges that go with the profession.

There are many technical aspects of the profession:

Taxation
Governmental Accounting
Finance
Personnel
Public Safety
Water utilities
Sewer utilities
State and Federal Laws
State and Federal Mandates
Collective bargaining

There are also political aspects to the profession that add challenges to the position:

Turnover of a city council
One-issue candidates sitting on council
Fire the manager candidates
Hot button issues that dwarf what is happening day-to-day
Providing more services with less $$$

After reviewing things on the above list we usually get into a conversation of what has made me successful in the communities that I have served. This is tough for me to explain, because I just try to do what I can do to leave the community better than I received it. This is set up through the Goals and Objectives set by the elected representatives.

Each manager will and should bring their own style to the community they serve.

What has worked for me may not be for everyone. What I think has worked for me is I get out of the way and let the employees do their jobs. I attempt to empower the employees by delegating what I think they can handle (and then some). They get the authority to carry out their mission and then the credit when they succeed.

In addition, I attempt to coach or provide guidance at the appropriate time. Sometimes that comes in the form of helping remove obstacles, other times it’s getting them to rethink the process to get us closer to the goal.

This job is not for the faint of heart. There will always be the “Monday morning quarterback” to explain how things should be. However, the rewards of seeing people come together as a team to reach goals and create public value is very energizing in itself.

Yes, I am still blogging…

This time of year we get to sit down with our kids, extended family and other loved ones and reflect what we are thankful for. In this country, we truly are blessed and have more to be thankful for than we could really list.

A while back our Mayor sent me a link to a segment of Good Morning America (GMA). The Mayor said this guy kind of reminded him of me. This was a great compliment from the Mayor, but I didn’t find out until I watched the entire lecture.

GMA host were speaking to Randy Pausch’s about his last lecture. I place the link here for those who wish to reflect and enrich their lives.

Randy was diagnosed with cancer and had a limited time to be with us. His wish was one last lecture. Truly reflective and reminds us of what we all should be thankful for.

Here is hopping you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I recently was asked that very good question. Some people are unaware that there is a career track for city managers. Communities don’t normally just take someone off the streets to manage the day to day operations of a full service city.

“If it was easy anyone could do it.” This is a saying are department heads are used to me saying. The same thing goes for city managers. The truth is, there are many aspects of the job that many people could do. However, there is a portion of this job that some are not cut out for.

I have heard from some that they would gladly be a city manager for half of what “he” makes. There is a reason there is an old saying that states “You get what you pay for.” It only takes one law suit over an illegal termination, illegal hiring, not following a host of Federal or State laws, not meeting another host of non-funded State or Federal mandates, and a dozen other topics that would set the citizens of a community back years and large amounts of money.

As a publicly held position there are rules that have to be followed when hiring the next manager.

The elected officials of the city, not one person, will hire the next city manager. This is a public process and meetings are posted. The interviews of the manager candidates are open for public viewing.

The first step was to develop a recruitment profile. The City of Davison chose to use the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to help them through the process. They have helped place hundreds of executives.

They also help establish a salary range, the candidate and community profile, etc…

After this the MML screens candidates who meet or exceed the criteria previously set. After this list is narrowed down some preliminary background work is completed and then the MML will bring a list of candidates that they would recommend interviewing.

The city council decides how many they would like to interview and then performed the interviews. Then the city council selects the candidate they would like to offer a conditional agreement with.

After that there is more background stuff, negotiations, and administrative things to be done.

Hopefully at that point the candidate and the City Council can come to an agreement.

So there is a process and the city is well on its way and in good hands with the MML assistance.

Ever go through an event, and then afterwards think how classy it was?

We just had one of those moments at out city council meeting on Monday night. This was the first meeting after our election and the last meeting of those who did not win the election.

A real transitional moment.

The existing council still had business to undertake. The newly elected people where to be sworn in, but officially don’t take office until Monday the 19th.

The existing Mayor was leading what could be his last meeting in a historic 25 years of service.

The swearing in of newly elected was under New Business (near the end of the meeting). A newly elected member requested under Public Comment Section (one of two places we allow for public comment in a meeting) that the swearing in be moved up on the agenda so that his young children could make it home in a reasonable time. Other comments were made about a Residential Rental Inspection Ordinance and City Council listened. They (the city council) have been very good listeners and most council members to a man (or woman) love to hear what people think.

Then, at the first opportunity city council had to make a motion (approval of agenda) the council moved the swearing in of newly elected way up on the agenda. A classy thing to do, in my mind.

City Councils (this one, the next one, or ones in the past) will always be told they don’t listen. I find the truth to be opposite. City Councils listen a lot. The ones that I have had the pleasure to serve under have reflected much over what they have heard. Then it comes to making a decision on a topic and there is no way to please everyone. This is when they get to cast their one vote.

Near the end of the meeting, people get to speak again. This time it is for items not on the agenda. Council again listened to what people had to say. There were some very nice comments from Davison Township Supervisor, Kurt Soper, about all the years and effort of the Mayor to make Davison a better place. Mr. Soper also wished the new Mayor luck and support in the upcoming years.

The Mayor elect addressed the Council and thanked the current Mayor for all his efforts over the years.

The last item, before adjournment, was city council announcements. Each Council member in their own way said very nice and classy things about their time of service to the community or about the efforts of those leaving city government.

What is really neat about this is knowing that these people do not agree on everything (or anything is some areas). But each and everyone understands the council member role in local government and the effort it takes to be a local elected official. Contrary to what some believe there are not a lot of perks being a local elected official. There is a lot of work, a lot of education and a lot of time making decisions that someone will always disagree with.

We are just going through a transition of councils and leadership in Davison. Not a shot fired. All done in the American tradition of peaceful change, and it quite thing to witness when done in such a classy manor.

Anyone ever get to see an artist at work?

Here is a neat link to a youtube video. This artist is truly into his work. You can tell by the passion. You can tell by the preparation it must have taken. You can see it in his face as he completes the piece and faces the audience.

Well I am lucky, I get to see artist like this every day. No, not painting a picture and the work of art takes much longer than two songs, but mastery just the same.

Maybe it is taking the water tower out of service for almost 2 months and see the planning and work of our DPW not miss a beat. A lot of pre planning went into this, but then the main computer goes down…artist at work, no panic, just keep on painting. When completed there is no applause, but you can see the pride of a job well done on all their faces.

It could be working through the City of Davison’s first Public Act 425 agreement with a developer and Davison Township. There are many times during this artwork that you have to stop and think, what’s this going to end up looking like? Well Walgreen’s is opening up today, another successful business that will employ local people. A work of art for local development.

This could even be at our last election, on Tuesday. The City of Davison had record turnout (thank you). We were running out of ballots, artist at work. No panic, follow the procedures put in place and the election went without a hitch. Someone ask how come I didn’t camp out at the polls with this issue? I don’t tend to get in the way of artist at work.

How about when an unhappy resident wants to pay their late water bill in unwrapped pennies as a protest and the treasures department handles it with a smile and a kind word.

I get to see it every day on the Police and Fire Department as our emergency service work to serve the people. Many times the good artwork goes unnoticed to the untrained eye. I just want to let our team know, that I am often at awe in the mastery of your artwork, and it does not go unnoticed.

If you are reading this and have not voted, look at your day planner and figure out when you are going to get out and vote.

I have been really energized during this election season. We have very good competition in this election. It is great to see interest in serving in local government.

A lot of people do not understand how many people it takes to run a local government. The commitment of those willing to serve to preserve or create public value should never be over looked.

I had more than one person solicit “Who should I vote for?”

As a City Manager I do not have the privilege to answer that question. In our form of government (Council/Manager) the manager is removed from the election process on purpose. The manager is in charge of day-to-day operations and does not run for office. This helps insulate public service from the political pressure that could come with a strong mayoral situation.

Oh, I am sure most staff have favorites, or are excited to see the election results. But with this form of government, people providing that clean water, patrolling the streets, repairing streets etc… do not have to pledge their allegiance to a political candidate, their allegiance is with the city itself.

It is quite a concept.

With the fall season in change mode, some of our projects are closing down.

One such program is the famous I/I program. This is the project where the city is financing, through a bond backed by a local millage, disconnection of weep tiles from homes to our sanitary sewer system. We are happy to report the program is working.

Contractors, staff and engineers have already seen a drop in our sewer system. Literally, they can observe where the normal old flows were and where the new flows are.

Fantastic!

In this short season, we have disconnected 68 homes with another 79 in the process of disconnections. There are about 12 people who have not scheduled an inspection and 48 homes where no work is required.

We are looking forward to next year’s program to expand the success. If you are a homeowner in one of the “extra” areas (yellow colored in all the previous public meetings)pay attention to any public notices for future meetings. More than likely we will be adding a lot of homes to fulfill our 300 home quota according to our project plan with the State of Michigan.

Thanks for all those who have participated in this program. You are improving the quality of life in Davison.

The Davison Index reported in a news article that “The Davison Index placed calls to City Manager Pete Auger and the city’s attorney, Ridley Nimmo, to seek clarification of the charter, but they failed to respond prior to the Index production deadline Tuesday.”

This is factually incorrect. I responded to Ms. Dufour’s inquiry about the term “defaulter” the day she asked me. In regards to the section of the City Charter referring to a defaulter and holding public office, Ms. Dufour was informed that I meet with the city attorney(s) on Tuesday afternoon and she should call me then and I could probably have the clarification she was looking for. Ms. Dufour did not call me Tuesday afternoon to get our attorney’s response. I do not know why she did not want to know that according to the Michigan Attorney Generals (AG) opinion a defaulter is not someone who is behind or late in paying their taxes. But, if Ms. Dufour or the Davison Index had a deadline that they had to meet or wanted to confirm what a defaulter is according to election law at a quicker pace than we could respond they could have paid their crack legal team to do the research. Come to find out, this AG’s opinion has been around since 1936. Our City charter was rewritten and voted on by the electors of the city in 1999.

In defense of Ms. Dufour, this may be another one of those times when the editor and or publisher changed her story, or put an inflammatory headline on one of her stories that gets presented. I will not know that until a later date, because in the past, that is when Ms. Dufour comes to my office crying and apologizing for what was printed.

The Davison Editorial staff is also misinformed when it states “Owing money to the city is not allowed for those who would lead the city.”

The editorial staff continues on its normal rant about “And make no mistake — issues raised by city government actions in recent months can be boiled down to a matter of trust.” This is on the heels of the continual whine from the Editor that he (and his staff) is too busy to cover city meetings. More than one person has made the connection that this paper has stated they don’t cover all the local government meetings and almost in the same breath complain about poor communications.

Running a local government, in Michigan, is not easy, but it is hardly ever boring. We live in a democratically elected representative government. Therefore, it should not be that odd that our sitting, or some future sitting council, represent the population that elects it. Understanding this fact would put in perspective the above mentioned AG’s opinion. Sometimes people don’t pay their taxes on time. Okay, if you can’t pay them on time there are extra fees that you owe when you pay them.

I have had the pleasure to serve under two Mayors while in Davison. Both these people have the same passion for the city, but disagree on different topics and strategies, this is okay. On former Council’s, I have spent much time defending the dissenters on the city council. This is a basic component of representative government. Each elected official gets one vote (including the Mayor). That means that on a normal issue there needs to be 4 votes in order for the City Council to set or change policy. Sometimes that vote is 4 to 3, sometimes 6 to 1 and still other issues get a 5 to 2 vote. Theses votes can go for or against an issue. But, in a representative government a policy is set and all are represented. Sometimes we are represented by the 1 vote in a 6-1 vote, but we are represented.

There are even some issues that are brought up and never even get put to a vote.

With that in mind, there are probably a few people out there that pay their taxes late (for whatever reason) and our system of government says they get to be represented too.

Now as City Manager (and I have instructed our staff) we don’t get involved in or endorse any candidate for elected office because it is our job to implement the policies set down by the elected body. Since The Davison Index editorial waited until the “11th hour” (their words) to run this issue I think the finger of mistrust points at the ownership/publisher and paid/non paid editorial staff. People have since contacted me (citizens and elected {not the three running for Mayor mentioned by the Index}) and have asked why The Davison Index would want to “taint” a local election.

I do not know, or pretend to know why people choose to behave or act in a certain manor, nor do I know if there is an attempt by The Davison Index to “taint” the election. But, in dealing with ethical issues I am aware that where there is a partnership or an appearance of such that disclosure is the norm for most reputable people. It may only be a coincidence, but the person singled out to be the next Mayor by the Davison Index was in a/or attempted to form a partnership in an endeavor with the publisher and his wife as a plaintiff against the city and its residents.

That is ok and legal as far as we know, but with great power (owning and printing a “news” paper) comes great responsibility. The “press” in our country is often referred to as the 4th branch of government (Legislative, Judicial and Executive are the three other official branches). People refer to this because normally the press reports on what governments do. Who keeps a watch on the press? Other Press outlets?

Normally, if there is an investigation about a local official, our local law enforcement does not investigate the issue. We pass it on to another law enforcement agency (County Sheriff or State Police). When The Davison Index reports as news and editorially on factually incorrect items, in their last publication before the election (no time for retraction or correction, coincidently I am sure) and this could have an effect on a local election, who investigates or sets the record straight? For all of those who have asked, I am sorry, I do not have an answer to this.

Sometimes newly elected people find it frustrating that they run for office on one or two issues and find out that it is tough to make decisions when there can be a conflict between the two issues they run on, but maybe that would be good for another blog.