District 10 Feedback — original pdf

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City Manager Search Advisory Task Force District 10 ‐ Town Hall Meeting June 19, 2017   1. What skills and abilities are most important for someone to manage our city? This could include previous job experience, education, etc. 2. What are the personal characteristics that are most important for our next city manager to lead our unique community? Please think about the attributes that would be essential for someone to thrive in this environment.  Leadership; not necessarily previous City Manager experience.  Knowledge of Austin and Texas community. Don’t want candidate to have a long learning curve.  Strong Mayor system  Experience in large city (ex: LAX, NY); knowledgeable  Consensus builder  Strong enough to stand up to growth or curtail it if we don’t have resources; can stand up to state of TX  Embrace change (but not change for sake of change)  Understands math and budges; can say “No”; looks down the road  Sustained history of success and accomplishments  Understands needs and concerns of current residents (retain existing residents vs. newcomers and adding growth); need a good balance  Experience with large government; creative; saves money; “scale ability”; willing to look at private/public partnerships  Well-educated “like Council Member Altar”  Miracle-worker  Thick skinned; honest; transparent; frugal; knows how to build infrastructure  Follow-up on email and phone calls; responsible and responsive to citizens  Like Council Member Altar – new to Austin but she cares, listens and making a difference  Plans to work for 5-10 years  Respect historical buildings and East Austin  Use technology  Ability to work with all government entitites; cut down expenses – schools can have multiple use  Experience – big time experience – been there done that  ADA – need more comprehensive accessibility and coordinator  Listen; heart; comes from big city 3. What do you see as the most critical challenges to Austin over the next 5-10 years? Our next city manager is going to have to have the professional skills and personal attributes to tackle these issues, so we think it is important to provide this specific feedback to the City Council.  Real-estate  Growth conscious  Retirement numbers are high – what next?  Manage growth  Historic poverty; control growth  “Losing it’s soul” – what happens 20 years down the road?  Deal with growth and not just cater to growth; know there are citizens here that will be here after the newcomers are gone.  Challenges are growth; new people getting precedent over long-time residents. Austin is more than music and new high rises. City Manager Search Advisory Task Force District 10 ‐ Town Hall Meeting June 19, 2017   Lack of accountability from City Manager’s Office – no enforcement – no follow through from Otto or Smart  Deal with state government and don’t be pushed around by state and county  Mediocrity; low bar – need to raise the bar – expect more and better response to government Open Questions: Q: How did they decide on search firm? A: The City Council hired the search firm – they are experienced in public and private searches Q: How qualified are candidates? A: Search firm is accepting names and also “headhunting” and reaching out to candidates on their own Q: What’s wrong with looking in Austin? A: Nothing. Open to anyone wanting to be considered. Q: Is current interim being seriously considered? A: Not for us to answer. Q: When will process be narrowed down? A: Goal is to get profile done by mid July; believe goal is to be hired by end of year.