By David M. Greenwald
Executive Editor
Davis, CA – The City of Davis announced this morning that Assistant City Manager and Director of Community Development, Economic Development & Sustainability Ashley Feeney is departing at the end of the month, pending approval by the Citrus Heights City Council on January 13. He would be hired as the new city manager of that city.
Feeney joined the City of Davis in March 2016 as the assistant director of community development and sustainability and was promoted to director of that department in December 2017. Feeney has served in his current role as Assistant City Manager since December 2018.
The city noted in a release, “During Feeney’s tenure many City development projects came to fruition – the Hyatt House hotel, the Marriott Residence Inn, the Nugget Markets headquarters, the Mars cocoa division Davis location, the Archer Daniels-Midland Davis office location, the Davis Identity apartment complex on Russell, Ryder on Olive apartments and Sterling Apartments on Fifth Street.”
“Working with our City staff team under City Manager Mike Webb’s leadership in serving the Davis community has been a real privilege,” said Feeney. “I am especially proud of our work with our local partners to support the survival of our Davis businesses during the pandemic.”
“I’d like to thank Ash for his leadership and the expertise that he brought to our team. Ash will be an excellent City Manager for Citrus Heights, and we wish him the very best in his new role,” said City of Davis City Manager Mike Webb. “We have many steady hands to navigate a transition for the Community Development & Sustainability department. I will share our transition plans before the end of January.”
Note to The Powers That Be: How about for this upcoming recruitment we NOT hire someone directly from a private development project mired in local controversy?
Way off base… on about 5 levels… but, you’re entitled to your view…
How so? I have no idea what you are implying. But apparently I’m supposed to know it’s so obvious to you?
I’d be more interested on both your thoughts on Ash’s legacy and what the city should do going forward? Separate CDD and EDD?
This kind of goes along with my comment to Matt Williams about how you’d think urban planning and economic development would be intricately tied together. But more often than not, in most cities they tend to be related but separate efforts. That in my experience they tend to be sort of piecemeal efforts and often subject to the economic and political whims/times….in other words more reactionary and less proactive planning.
I’d be interested in knowing how the two roles are defined and how they’ve been planned and executed in Davis.
How so? I’m not disagreeing. I’m curious about how you view the roles of community development, economic development and assistant city manager and how Mr. Feeny’s efforts fit into all of it.
The hostility to city staff is so common in Davis, and is such a strong irritation of mine, that I don’t feel like having that broader discussion in this context.
The topic is fine. Whether I’ll participate in that discussion is another question.
I never understand why other people respond when I am directing a question to one person. Question is to WM as to the five or so levels that my comment is off base. Please list all five levels.
And I don’t understand why you have chosen to ignore my attempt to re-direct the conversation into an area that will not result in posts getting removed and instead doubled down on your previous post.
Would be glad to share you, ‘off-line’ but have no good way to do that… as far as I’m concerned, I’m OK with Don or David sharing my e-mail address with you, Alan M. Why not on VG? You nailed it a bit later…
You, Alan M, I trust… others, not so much… I’ve gotten to know Ash professionally and know how others I professionally respect, and have long worked with, who have worked with him closely. Let Don and/or David know it’s OK for you to have my e-mail address, if you desire follow-up. I need to leave it at that.
WM, that was really all I wanted to know; and yes I’m fine with having the V. Powers That Be share my email address with you. I actually thought I already had it in regards to Pancakes & Politics, but I don’t see it.
For the record Ash Feeney has been professional and responsive when I have had a few conversations in person and over email with him over the years — this is nothing personal regarding him.
My comment was regarding the City hiring someone directly from a development company that built something that had a lot of controversy/shenanigans associated with it. The appearance, warranted or not, wasn’t great at the time and had many Davis citizens reacting with a big ‘WTF?’
I’m curious about what kind of background(s) you (and Bill) believe an Assistant City Manager, Community Development and Economic Director should have? Again, this ties to my comment/questions about the often separate but related city efforts at urban planning, economic growth and community development.
I’m absolutely untrustworthy. I saw a Dungeons and Dragons t-shirt that reflects my attitude: “Chaotic Neutral: Might Save Your Life. Might Steal Your Wife.”
Congratulations to Ash Feeney on this great opportunity and thanks for his service here in Davis. His focus on economic development was very beneficial.
No comment…
I agree…
No comment . . .
I’ll treat that as a fair question… whether it is or not…
Background in urban planning, finance, and (hate to say this) Poli Sci… technical/educational, and experiential…
Empathy, inquisitiveness, and a basic understanding of how all departments function, and an openness to listen to and evaluate opinions/recommendations from those with “boots on the ground”, in areas outside their own ‘expertise’…
Good written and oral communication skills. And, a good sense of humor… a critical element so as not to ‘burn out’…
These folk are “at will” employees.
Honesty, personal/professional integrity, discretion (too much ‘transparency’ is dangerous and unproductive)…
And, when in doubt, trusting your gut to make tough recommendations/decisions, and willing to stand by them, rather than wetting/sticking your finger in the air to see where ‘the winds are blowing’.
Think that pretty much covers it… for the “ideal candidate”…
Oh, forgot… it is good if their experience comes from both the public and private sectors… goes to ‘understanding’ others, and their realities…
Fair enough. Having worked in both public and private sectors — actually more than that: University, Private Consultants, Non-Profit, for myself both in retail and as consultant/contractor, and now for the State, I can say that is important — and looking at that list about myself, I am probably the most well-rounded person I know!
I may also be the most narcissistic person I know. If I do say so, MYSELF.
Maybe I should run for City Council . . . or . . . something . . . ish.
Does Allendale have a City Council? Maybe I could run there and change the name to Alandale.
Bill:
I was thinking more along the lines that I think a city manager or assistant city manager, community development director and economic development director should have more business/corporate development skills. It appears that Mr. Feeney’s background was in housing (in fact it appears that some of his background in land acquisition is similar to mine). But I’d argue that familiarity with local COMMERCIAL real estate is more important for those roles. But even more important would be experience and connections with industries that Davis has connections to like Ag and bio-tech. Another area of great importance for people in those roles IMO would be someone tuned into the development of business coming out of UCD. In the role of community development; is that more like getting senior housing approved or student housing? Maybe working with different groups and organizations in the community in a commerce and recreational type of role?
Don:
I have no history or familiarity with this in Davis. It is not my intent to take any personal shots at Mr. Feeney….in fact I don’t know much of what he did and didn’t do. I was more interested in discussing the roles of community and economic development for the city of Davis.
I’m sorry it’s a sensitive subject for you. I thought the purpose of these comments were to discuss these very things. Again, I have no experience or intent at “taking potshots” at staff; as I don’t even know who they are. But I do believe a discussion in what the roles and goals of the positions the staff and elected officials fill should be open for discussion. We can discuss how we’d like those roles carried out and what kind of people (in terms of background and experience) we’d like to see in those roles.
Don’s “community discussion” comment came from somewhere else, but I’ll respond to it here: This is a necessary discussion like a family argument that festers below the surface until its aired. And others can’t understand why the parties battle with each other on all sorts of things until those deeper issues are aired. Without such a discussion and some sort of direction, our community will founder. We CANNOT have a staff-directed economic development policy–in my experience they don’t have sufficient knowledge of the sort that Keith E has listed (which is a good list.) And if it isn’t staff-directed, then it needs to come about through developing that vision. The vision can come from a dynamic leader who persuades enough of the electorate to follow that vision. Julie Partansky did that a couple decades ago (even if it did end up getting us into this fix) and the City Councils of the early ’80s also put forward a vision that they sold successfully to the electorate. It likely won’t come about through some sort of mediated meeting–it will take strong leadership from one or a few individuals.
As one of those who have been critical of City staff at times, the problem here is that too often decisions are done as they would be done in other places where citizens care less about government transparency. I think this is a result of some staff members not really being in tune with the citizens of this community and their unique traits. As a result the City has made several poor, costly decisions. (I’ve documented those over the years on this site.)
Davis certainly has its share of citizens with unique traits 😉
“’Never good to see a headline like that,’ Ashley Feeney, the city of Davis’ Assistant City Manager told the Vanguard on Thursday.”
I think this pithy, unoffensive, shoulder shrugging quote, from the other day about Marrone moving it’s headquarters out of Davis, demonstrates that Feeney is ready to move up.
Congratulations Ash! I’ll miss seeing you around town.
Don’t forget to contact H.S.U. so they can put it in the Alumni Magazine.
Congratulations to Ash Feeney on being selected to become the City Manager in Citrus Heights another community in our Region. He is a very talented, professional, hardworking, and cheerful guy. He contributed a great deal to the City of Davis.
Ash can work at the” micro and firm level”; answering questions, listening to concerns and being straight forward and encouraging within the constraints of the Davis Process and Davis Way. He works to solve problems and make valuable things happen. Also, at the “Macro Level”, Ash can and does advocate for fairness, transparency, common sense and strong policies to support the environment, strengthen the economy, and to serve the public. I wish him the best and his talents will be missed by the city leaders, city employees as well as the citizens of Davis. Ashley Feeney has contributed greatly during his tenure in Davis!
It seems to me that posts/comments or the posturing and jawboning regarding the desirable attributes in the replacement for Ash– what is needed in our next Assistant City manager are mostly way off base. Here is my 2 cents worth.
Davis would be well served by finding and hiring a professional, with good communication skills, with a “can do” attitude, who will be a good public servant focused upon service and equal treatment —who has a “thick skin” to tolerate the unfortunate “staff bashing” that is too prevalent in the public discourse in Davis. If the City Council can attract and hire someone who has 2/3rds of the ability that Ash Feeney possesses –our community will be well served!
All the Best to Ash. Thank you!
I’m starting to wonder if I need to open up a bar in Davis (Davis really needs a good bar or two) dedicated to city staff PTSD. Geez! You’d think we were picking on war veterans. How bad is it in this town?
I’m not sure how off base the comments are. You’d think Mr. Gray would welcome a discussion on ways to expand Davis’ economic development efforts….unless he holds no growth views…which I don’t think he does. Discussing the roles and objectives of Economic Development, Community Development and office of the city manager seem to be a good start. That discussion is no disrespect to Mr. Feeney. I’m sure he’s like most staff and simply does the job that’s put before him to the best of their ability. In fact Davis more than many places probably makes it harder for staff (and elected officials) to get things accomplished. Richard was correct with this statement:
Any vision and effort made towards economic growth and development needs to be spearheaded by the elected leaders. They have to be the ones that pave the way with the electorate to get things accomplished. However staff assigned in their specific roles can serve their functions to facilitate that growth if that is their role. This is where I disagree with Richard’s comment:
I’d argue that citizens of Davis have a trumped opinion of themselves on political matters (and many other matters). In this case arguing with staff decisions is like shareholders in a company complaining how specific managers are doing things in a company. Yes as shareholders they have a say in how things should be run. But that’s through representation by the elected board of directors and their management of the executives; not direct shareholder input and control and oversight of management inside a company. Bottom line, is if the citizens have a problem with the decisions of their elected officials and the staff that serve the city and those officials, then elect better officials….again to be clear to the sensitive folks…I’m not criticizing the current Davis elected officials just commenting on the roles and process of the system of government in place.
Personally, I have no experience with Davis city staff. But my experience with city staff in many other cities have been pretty good. In my (long ago) role of land acquisition in new markets, the first thing I would do is go talk to the city planners to see what the city could develop and wanted developed…before talking to local brokers. In fact one of the best projects I ever found was from talking to an assistant planner who introduced me to a city manager who then took me out to look at property the city wanted developed. It wasn’t listed but the city manager then introduced me to the local broker that represented the property. My point is that I’ve usually found city staff to be very helpful, even when they clearly tell me what can’t happen.
Why all this unfortunate and all too prevalent bashing of staff bashers in Davis discourse?
You’re correct Alan M… no City employee should be hired unless they can accept unwarranted criticism… problem solved. Only thick-skinned folk need apply.
I know you are being sarcastic, but really, if you have a thin skin, probably not the job for you.
Then, it should be in the job description, for maintenance workers, custodians, everyone up to City Manager. Weed those thin-skinned (some of who are POC’s) out before hiring… good point.
May you get your desired results…