City's growth and maturation require new level of leadership

City's growth and maturation require new level of leadership

By Amy Stansbury Friday, 03 July 2009

Pflugerville seeks city manager with experience running a city with much larger population

The City of Pflugerville hired an executive recruiting firm in June to conduct a nationwide search for a new city manager — one with experience running a city with a population of 75,000 to 100,000. Pflugerville is expected to reach 50,000 citizens by the end of the year, with projections reaching 100,000 within 10 to 12 years.

“We’re looking for someone who understands the chief executive role of the city manager position … Someone who can create the vision and move our city forward,” Mayor Jeff Coleman said. “What we don’t want is someone coming from a city of 15,000 using this as his step up.”

Growth

With a population of more than 47,000 today, Pflugerville was once expected to reach 80,000 by 2012. This year, city planners lowered that projection to 62,000 by 2012 because of the recent economic downturn.

“The housing market is slowing down, so we have decreased the anticipated population, but really, who knows with the economy and the housing market right now?” Pflugerville Planning Director Autumn Speer said. “This is the worst time to make any kind of projection for anything. But when the economy turns back around, we’re the best place in the nation to be, as far as affordability and jobs.”

With the planned annexations of the Windermere, Windermere Terrace, Picadilly Ridge and Watson Park subdivisions and the Hillside Springs area, Speer said she expects Pflugerville to reach a population of 50,000 by the end of the year.

Hitting a population of 50,000 brings changes. According to City Attorney Floyd Akers, Pflugerville’s extra-territorial jurisdiction will expand from 2 to 3.5 miles, seats on several regional boards of directors will be available to city staff or council members, and responsibilities previously maintained by the state, such as some traffic signals, will fall under the city.

“We are maturing and we’re no longer this little town, or little brother of Round Rock,” Coleman said. “We’re coming into a city of our own right. Therefore, we have a responsibility to act grown up and perform at a higher level. I have challenged not only council to perform at a higher level, but also city staff.”

Councilman Mike Marsh said the city needs to plan ahead, and while he may not know exactly what needs to happen, he said he knows the city needs to have the right staff in place who has planned for a city’s growth before. He added that once the new city manager is hired, he or she will determine whether any city staff and infrastructure changes need to be made.

“What we’re being told is that the growth is going to become so explosive as this economy comes out of this downturn and starts growing again, we’re going to experience growth that we’ve never experienced before,” Marsh said. “I want to make sure that we have the vision and experience to be prepared when these people show up.”

Assistant City Manager Lauri Gillam was named the interim city manager by the council. She has been with the city for 15 years.

Marsh said he wants to make sure that if the ideal candidate is not found by the end of the year, that the council does not hire someone less qualified just to meet a deadline.

“If I am not 100 percent confident that this is the right search firm or right person, then I am going to vote “no” because I feel like it is that important to the city’s future that we have the perfect match, not just an acceptable match,” Marsh said.

Qualifications, experience

The mayor and city council will define qualifications for city manager candidates in July. Candidates will be interviewed this fall, and the council aims to make a hire by the end of the year.

“We are looking nationally, but with that said, we anticipate that any candidates will probably come out of Texas or the Sunbelt,” Coleman said. “Very few in the Rustbelt have gone through an almost 200 percent rate of growth in the past nine years, and we’re looking for somebody with that kind of experience. We want someone who has kind of been where we’re at and has worked their way through it.”

Marsh said he is most concerned about staying ahead of the city’s growth.

“I don’t want to be building roads through highly congested areas and diverting traffic,” he said. “I want to build the roads beforehand. I want to have the right people in the right positions before demand is there. I want to see water and wastewater lines in place before the growth is there so that we can offer these things.”

Marsh said the city can say that the plans are in place, the water and power lines are in place, and the road design is in place for prospective residents and businesses.

“We are able to say, ‘Y’all come on in,’” he said. “I don’t want to lose that edge.”

There is a way to quantify the right candidate’s experience to ensure that it matches Pflugerville’s needs, Marsh said. Some questions he said he plans to ask city manager candidates are: How many miles of suburban and community roads have you built? How many thousands of feet of wastewater lines have you put down?

Former city manager David Buesing is now the public works director. He is responsible for water, wastewater, fleets, streets and the new community garden and recycling center.

Buesing’s salary as city manager — and also as public works director — is $123,011, but Coleman said the council will consider paying the new city manager more. The city’s human resources department conducted salary surveys to determine an appropriate salary range for the level of experience and responsibility the council wants in the new city manager.

Growth brings changes

State law mandates the following ramifications once a city reaches a population of 50,000. Pflugerville is expected to face the following changes, new responsibilities and restrictions by the end of the year:

• Extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) expands from 2 to 3.5 miles, which allows modest controls in that portion of the county
• City is offered a seat on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) board of directors
• City is no longer dependent on Travis County to sponsor Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, federal grant money available to the city for projects such as streets, drainage and low-income housing developments
• City takes on financial responsibility for Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) traffic signals and signs on Pecan Street and FM 685
• New cemeteries will be prohibited within 3 miles of the city limits

*Population as of June 2009 - 47,417

Source: Pflugerville City Attorney Floyd Akers

The role of a city manager

A city manager is a city employee appointed by the city council to be the administrative manager of a city, he or she is responsible for the following:

• Supervising the city’s daily operations
• Hiring department heads
• Supervising city personnel
• Directing and coordinating all municipal programs
• Overseeing enforcement of municipal laws and ordinances
• Recommending an annual budget

City managers sit on the dais for council meetings, but do not have a vote in decisions made by the council.

City compared to company structure

• City manager = Chief Executive Officer
• Assistant city manager = Chief Operating Officer
• Mayor = Chairman of the board of directors
• City council = Board of directors
• Department directors = Department directors
• City staff = Company employees

Source: Pflugerville City Councilman Mike Marsh

Area city managers

Pflugerville’s qualifications for city manager candidates - The City of Pflugerville, mayor and city council will conduct a nationwide search for a new city manager. Below are some job details and the council’s qualifications for the role.

• Annual salary: To be determined
• Responsibilities: Manage daily operations of city workforce, including 401 employees* in 12 departments with a total operating budget of $35.8 million
• Background: Ideally a current city manager or assistant city manager with 10 years experience in a rapidly growing city with a population of more than 75,000
• Education: Educated with a degree in the field of municipal administration

* The City of Pflugerville has 242 full-time employees and 159 part-time and seasonal employees.

Note: The mayor and city council will finalize criteria with the executive search firm in July for the new city manager candidates. The background and education listed above are general qualifications the council is seeking in city manager candidates; however, additional, specific criteria may be determined.

Austin City Manager Marc Ott

• Population: 770,753
• Annual salary: $242,000
• Staff: 12,000 city employees
• Operating budget: $2.5 billion
• Background:
  • Austin City Manager since February 2008
  • 26 years of municipal government experience
  • Served as assistant city manager for infrastructure services, City of Fort Worth
  • City administrator for Rochester Hills, Mich.
  • City manager, deputy city manager and assistant city manager in Kalamazoo, Mich.
  • Administrative services officer in Grand Rapids, Mich.Source: City of Austin

Hutto City Manager Ed Broussard

• Population: 17,120Annual salary: $118,000
• Staff: 87 city employees
• Operating budget: $28.19 million
• Background:
  • Hutto City Manager since July 2005
  • City manager in Navasota, Texas
  • Assistant city manager in Woodway, Texas, and in College Station, Texas
• Source: City of Hutto

Cedar Park City Manager Brenda Eivens

• Population: 52,893
• Annual salary: $142,000
• Staff: 375 city employees
• Operating budget: $57 million
• Background:
  • Cedar Park City Manager since January 2007
  • Worked for the City of Cedar Park since 1996
  • Previously served as assistant city manager
• Source: City of Cedar Park

Georgetown City Manager Paul E. Brandenburg

• Population: 49,394
• Annual salary: $160,000
• Staff: 537 city employees*
• Operating budget: $214.7 million**
• Background:
  • Georgetown City Manager since September 2002
• *Includes 50 part-time temporary employees
• **Includes public utilities budget
• Source: City of Georgetown

Round Rock City Manager Jim Nuse

• Population: 97,298
• Annual salary: $180,939
• Staff: 830 city employees
• Operating budget: $135 million
• Background:
  • Round Rock City Manager since January 2003
  • Worked for the City of Round Rock since 1983
• Source: City of Round Rock

Leander City Manager Anthony “Biff” Johnson

• Population: 30,000
• Annual salary: $172,218
• Staff: 158 city employees
• Operating budget: $26.8 million
• Background:
  • Leander City Manager since January 2004
  • 30 years experience in the public sector working for high-growth cities
• Source: City of Leander

Taylor City Manager Jim Dunaway

• Population: 15,755
• Annual salary: $105,000
• Staff: 145 city employees
• Operating budget: $22 million
• Background:
  • Taylor City Manager since March
  • Served as public works director and assistant city manager before being promoted to city manager in Taylor
• Source: City of Taylor