With the announcement of after 18 years as City Manager it comes time to ask what we want from our next City Manager.
It is my hope that we find someone who is an excellent administrator and who will appreciate and nurture what makes Highland Park a special community. The new City Manager will be fortunate as part of what makes Highland Park such a fabulous community are the high quality of public services delivered by the many hardworking and fabulous staff members the city employs.
Equally important are the many civic minded residents who live in Highland Park. This is a city where property owners have co-funded an organization dedicated to economic development, above and beyond its Chamber of Commerce. This is a city where High School annually raises more than $100,000 during it charity drive. This is a city where commissions and boards are not filled with political cronies, but experts and professionals in the areas that they they advise upon. Our next City Manager needs to be invigorated and excited by this kind of resident, not threatened or intimidated.
While we need someone who will follow the desires of the City Council, we also need someone who will be able to capably lead a 50 million dollar organization. Delivering the kinds of services that residents expect is no easy task, especially in this time of economic difficulty. These services must be delivered and budgeted for in a way that preserves our solid financial status, as reflected by our . This means that our City Manager must be unafraid to go to the Council and ask them to make difficult decisions about priorities.
After all, the City Manager is the one city employee who reports to the Council and Mayor. Our next City Manager must be a person who can foster a productive work relationship with that Council and Mayor. The Council, Mayor, and City Manager all have a role to play and the next City Manager must both help to set appropriate boundaries while also respecting appropriate boundaries.
In other words Highland Park demands and expects to have one of the best City Managers in the country. I have confidence that this Council and Mayor will be able to find just the person to meet this expectation.
