By Richard McCann
Here are my answers to the survey issued to the City looking for feedback from the community to guide recruitment and selection for replacing Mike Webb. The survey responses are due June 16. I am sure I forgot some attributes and issues that are important and others will have a different take. Take this as a prompt to fill out your own responses.
- What are the most important challenges and opportunities facing the City of Davis that the new City Manager should work with City Council to address?
The most important challenges are threefold: 1) reestablishing confidence and trust by Davis citizens in the actions and effectiveness of City staff, 2) developing a plan to bring in the type of new housing that’s needed to meet our responsibility for making our housing affordable to those who currently commute to work in Davis, and 3) creating a welcoming environment for businesses. The City administration has tried to gain increasing control of citizen input in various ways which is undermining confidence in whether the City is well run. The City also is way behind on delivering a number of promised products and services—those delays undermine the confidence by citizens in the City’s competence. Our entire governmental system is now under attack politically because citizens are questioning this lack of competence everywhere, not just Davis.
The City has opportunities to expand the housing market in a way that benefits residents more broadly and better achieves our environmental goals. And we can make downtown more appealing by enhancing attractions like outdoor dining on G St rather than making it infeasible for businesses there, and fast-tracking new establishments. We also can partner with UCD to keep emerging technology businesses here. Another opportunity that was utilized well in setting up VCE (Valley Clean Energy) is bringing in citizens as volunteer analysts. Those citizens can take on some of the tasks that are way behind schedule and bring them closer to completion. Davis needs to become a leader again just as it was on environmental, resource management, and transportation issues from the 1960s to 1990s.
- What skills and experiences are the most critical for a new City Manager to have to be able to succeed in Davis?
The City Manager needs to have the skills of being a strong leader and demonstrate an ability to listen to multiple sides, navigating among different stakeholders. The City Manager also needs to demonstrate an ability to deliver promised results on time with limited resources. Blaming outside forces, unless completely unforeseen, cannot be a reason for failing to deliver. Showing an ability to make robust decisions under uncertainty and being able to adapt to changing circumstances is important. The City Manager must be open to outside input without feeling threatened or belittled. That requires a degree of self confidence that must not reach arrogance.
- What management and leadership attributes should the next City manager have?
First, the City Manager must act as a CEO and have experience doing so. The Council needs to be the board that directs policy and the City Manager should carry out that policy. But the City Manager should not make policy nor control the information provided to the Council in a manner that steers policy decisions. Second, being attuned to Davis’ unique culture is important, including participating in community social events. Third, the City Manager cannot be so risk-averse as to skip important opportunities and should not act to simply avoid controversies. There will be disagreements in the community about certain choices but suppressing discussion does not resolve these conflicts. But fourth, the City Manager must be able to both demand excellence through accountability and foster confidence in staff members so that they can best interact with citizens and businesses. The staff needs to be empowered in this way.
- How would you like the City Manager to interact with the community?
Too often over the last decade the Council has not been presented with the full array of information needed to make a robust decision and the City has suffered as a result. The premature decision on the BrightNight solar lease is one example where commissions offered a better solution but were ignored. The city is full of experts who know more than any of the staff about almost every matter—that resource should be exploited to the greatest degree possible.
- Is there anything else you would like the City Council to consider when selecting a new City Manager?
The contract with the new CM needs to have public and transparent quantitative objectives to evaluate their performance. And they need to publish how they have performed relative to those objectives annually. The evaluation process needs to be public and transparent rather than a black box, as has been the case.
Make the City business-friendly—its reputation is tumbling on this aspect. Start by solving the G Street debacle—it was vibrant during Covid and afterwards until the City reconfigured it, but made it inaccessible to the businesses that it was supposed to serve. Business owners were not considered or consulted on a timely basis and given no warning about the requirements that were imposed. Even then they were not listened to and issues were never addressed. The ability for food and drink businesses to bring their business back out to the street has been derailed and the City has lost a key opportunity to revive vibrancy downtown.
