2003-01-22 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Jltl:O~$:t r'''J''''J'''.';;}''~''''i' '" rY~rF"Crlj''''''?::l;?4 J'Jui!""}i~l..j.}..')',"~"" \/0";'1' h';'},'J;::;;.,.,,1.'j;t'l1'j' ,i.,\'l"I)\/,:~ ~,'.J.' u;,;,.,....];J!j;J;; J.;j~';;;J;j;,"'....\U ".J1i,~....,.;..!,;I"",~ JJ ;J.J J~J".JJ';" :a.V J;j!J.Jl\"; ...I.';/,r:;./,~ h:a'Y']Jygdffff:e:r:e.nt t](a.p,a:rtmilJ,rl:$J/YOffk Ct;)jj:abora;tj!jf::JJy, - iFran]r BeffJ:e:S:J (gauge it), hiring a manager would be as simple as that. You could hire a suc- cessful manager every time." In the absence of such a gauge, existing managers point to some essential skills, noting that local gov- ernment managers should be able to: · communicate with people; · build a trusting relationship with the cOlmcil or commission; · recognize how political issues can affect decisions and maintain impartiality; · engage citizens to ensure support for the city; · market the community; · negotiate and build consensus; · have a sense of The Big Picture, understanding that progress can be made only incrementally; and · assist in developing the resources for each increment. "The skills around facilitation are going to be increasingly important," AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY O'Neill predicrs. In fact, because man- agers are involved in that role, some cities and counties are hiring assistant managers to oversee operations. That is the case in Brea, where the assistant city manager serves as a chief operations officer, handling budget, labor relations and day-to-day busi- ness. "The city wanted a strong exter- nalleader," Benest says. "[Having an assistant city manager] allows me to be very involved in the development and redevelopment issues, as well as in some regional governance and other external issues." In addition to representing their communities across internal and external boundaries, future local man- agers will need to devote increased attention to employee relations, Romer says. "There is an intensified need for personnel management train- ing," he explains. "Case law in [Amer- icans With Disabilities] issues, sexual harassment, and age and gender dis- crimination have forced us all to be more aware of constraints that are on us as managers. It's [opened up] a whole area that we as managers need to be very good at." Additionally, although technology demands will continue to grow, King notes that technological training is not a requirement for good manage- ment. "It's not very important for the manager to have technology experi- ence, but he has to have some ability to understand what applications might be of assistance and to hire peo- ple who can deal with it," he says. · A PRETTY GOOD DEAL' As city and county managers juggle the demands of citizens, councils, commissions and neighboring corrunu- October 1998 33