Meet Your City Manager Town Hall   7/20/2023

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Good to see you.

Will you stay seated or will you come to the podium?

Thank you.

I got back earlier, I thought I might.

I'll kick it off.

Yeah.

Oh really?

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I want to thank everyone for coming out.

I know that after a long, warm summer day, you just may want to go home and relax, so we appreciate you giving us a little bit of your time for this very important

event where we are going to be really officially introducing Sam Sanders as the new city manager.

But before I get started, first I want to thank Mr. Rogers for his 18 months or 19 months with us and really just carried us through a really difficult time.

So thank you again so much, Mr. Rogers.

I want to acknowledge my fellow counselors here, Michael Payne, Lloyd Snook, and Brian Pinkston.

Lloyd thought that he would have a court appointment and wouldn't get here in time, so he just got here, but I'm going to just go ahead and carry the ball for a bit because this is really informal where we had some questions already posed for the

City Manager elect, or it's official now, but we have some questions.

We certainly would take some for an audience.

And so I found out that there's a lot of duties being on City Council, a lot.

But one of the most important things that we have to do is to hire

a city manager that you know this is a city manager form of government even though we are out there a lot as counselors they run the city and so we just we really had to make the right selection with some great candidates to be part of the process this time and we were it was really difficult but you know sometimes you realize you have the gym in in your own backyard and we realized that we had that with with Sam I know that when I was running Brian and I was running for

City Council probably about two years ago almost to the date that we had the opportunity to meet Sam and Ashley at the same time and at that time they were essentially running the city when a lot of people were leaving and so

Yeah, I'll say a little bit to start and then we will definitely dive into the questions.

I shared during the press conference that I really don't like pomp and circumstance or the spotlight, but I accept that as a part of this role.

I understand that I have to do these things and I want to be available and get to know as many people as I possibly can.

I'm really one of those people who keeps their head down and get work done.

That's really what I focus on.

But I just wanted to share a little bit about me just so that you all can feel more and more comfortable with who I am and how I do things.

It's my expectation that at any point you may find difficulty with a decision that I may make or recommendation that I may offer, but it might be nice for you to know a little bit more about the person who is struggling and wrestling with whatever those decisions may be.

and in so doing you may appreciate at some point how I came to the conclusions that I came to and how I then made the decision that I might have made.

But I consider myself a person who specializes in process.

I'm all about process.

I value process.

My dad was a Marine.

We had a process.

We had a way of doing things and it was just that way.

My mother could have been a Marine because she taught us that a long time ago.

But we definitely believed in this idea that there's a way you do things, and I have always brought that to work.

I believe there's a way you do things.

I'm always interested in trying to make sure that we are keeping the people that we are touching, their lives that we are touching in front of us at all times.

That will be the message that I will continue to deliver to the staff.

If you do that, then it's hard for you to do things that don't really connect because you're always thinking about who might I miss, who might I impact, who might I affect if I allow this to not go right.

What I also want to be able to do is to advocate for change.

You all have told me, some of you I know have sent me emails and talked to me about different things, and a lot of people have sent messages and said that Charlottesville is a hard place, a difficult place, a challenging place.

I'll say I am up for many challenges.

I've chosen to be up for this one.

And we're going to do the best that we can in addressing whatever issues may arise.

But I look at a challenge as an opportunity.

For me, it's what does it take to turn it around?

What do I need to do?

Who do I need at the table?

We recently attended a conference, and the speaker made a reference to something that really stuck with me.

She said, who do you need at the table?

You need doers and thinkers.

and I thought about that and I've still been thinking about that.

We do a lot of talking and we're not always doing the doing so I want to shift that too.

And that's not to say that we're not doing good work because I do value the work of the team, I value this team and I recognize that they are working hard in spite of a lot.

It's not very easy to work for a city government that is always under attack.

It is not easy working for city government in a city where people say it is not a very easy place to live.

It makes it kind of hard.

It makes them a special group of people in my book to continue to come back here.

That's the way I look at it.

I'm always going to spin it in a different way.

But I also just say that my role as the city manager will be to be a facilitator and a manager, a decision maker, a coach and a colleague, and I consider myself a tactical administrator.

I will roll up my sleeves and do anything I ask anybody else to do, that way they can never say

Well, you won't do that.

Yes, I will.

Absolutely, I will.

And we have to be that way if we really want to be about making change.

And I recognize the job comes with a lot of concern.

So my wife, who's hiding over there in the back, who told me not to recognize her, of course I was going to, is very concerned about me being always concerned.

And I will be taking care of myself.

Some folks have shared with me that they recognize the job is hard and I need to do that.

I will continue to practice whatever I need to in the space of self-care.

I've been doing that already because this has not been an easy two weeks.

And I don't imagine that when it all becomes mine on August 1st, it will get any easier.

But I also just want to say quickly, just a preview to the first 100 days as I've begun to pull them together.

I haven't figured it all out yet, but I'm thinking about it.

It is my attention to me with all the department heads.

I think that is one thing that I should do.

I have not had the fortune of working with all of them closely.

I had a portfolio.

I didn't work with every single department head.

It's my desire to have those moments with them so that they too can get to know me and understand what's going on up here because they need to know and understand that as well.

and to also take a look at the city manager's office and figure out what things do we need to do?

How do we make sure that we are supporting the entire team and making sure that the things are coming together?

And then I intend to continue to do things like this.

It's my intention to engage with people.

We've been doing the City Manager's Neighborhood Leaders Roundtable.

I've enjoyed it.

I took over the meeting, actually.

The first time I went to one of them, I didn't like how it was going, and I said, nah, we can do a little bit better than that.

And since then, I've been facilitating the meeting.

I don't know that I'll continue facilitating the meeting, because I might not make all of them, but it is my intention to look for moments like that where we can add a spin to what it is that we're doing if it's going to make a better connection.

and that's really what I've been striving to do in the work that I've done with the operations portfolio.

So that's just to give you a little snapshot of what it is that I'm bringing into this particular conversation.

I shared a lot about myself on that little flyer in front of you.

You're learning a lot more than some people who've known me for years know because I really don't talk about that kind of stuff.

But I think this is a big role.

It's a big moment.

I think it's important for you to really understand how I operate.

That's really what I feel like is the best approach for me in coming into this job.

So I told you a little bit about me.

I told you what I like.

If you see me, ask me how I'm doing.

If you're mad about something, tell me why.

If you want something, tell me what.

but don't just be mad and don't just ask for something.

We gotta really make a connection with those moments so that's how I look at things and now enough about me, we'll move on to questions.

So we got a number of questions that came in and a couple of the questions and I'll merge some of these just to kinda go with themes.

Sidewalks, y'all really like to talk about sidewalks around here.

So I've moved around the city

now for two years moving around the city and taking a look at the fact that we have sidewalks, we have missing sidewalks in places that I don't understand.

We have sidewalks that just stop and I don't know why they just stop.

I mean this place has been around for a very long time and there's some rhythm and some rhyming that's missing in all of that and I've been working on that the entire time that I've been here

I've talked to the team and tried to gain some understanding as to how those things happen and a lot of that just comes with we cave to pressure and we say we are going to do things and then we do one thing and we don't do number two, three, and four to make the connections

and I think we need to rethink our approaches to that so that is the work that we'll continue to do.

We do not have a sidewalk production program meaning brand new sidewalks just coming up because we choose this is where we're going to put a new sidewalk so let's start building.

I asked that question a long time ago.

I didn't like the answer.

We're working on it.

I did bring to council last year a request for additional project managers and the purpose of that was for one of them to actually focus a lot on the opportunity to bring more sidewalks online on a regular basis.

Our struggle in our market is that we have not been able to fill all of the positions that we've even gotten funded.

and those two project manager positions today are still vacant.

They've been advertised since we got approval to put them out there and we haven't been able to fill them.

So we'll continue to work on that.

We'll continue to strive to get those spots filled.

We've filled some spots for people who left.

We just haven't been able to add the additional capacity.

so as we are able to do that when we are successful in getting the individuals on board then I promise you I will get you more sidewalks and it's going to be my desire to prioritize where they go put them on the website so you know where they're going to go and I will put a date next to them so that you know when you will get them I've been talking this way to staff I think they're a little afraid because I keep saying stuff like this

We have to tell you what we're doing, we have to tell you how we're doing, and we most definitely need to tell you when are we going to get it done.

So those are some approaches that we will take to project management, just to give you a snapshot of what I've been thinking about there.

Alright, next one is about bus drivers, one of my favorite subjects.

We have been in quite a pickle when it comes to pupil transportation, but the interesting thing is that Charlottesville is no different than anywhere else in the country.

Everyone is suffering from a bus crisis, bus driver shortage, and just a crisis in managing getting kids to school.

We have had a few ebbs and flows.

We've had some success.

We've done one of the most amazing things I believe we've done, and I'll claim it because I was a part of doing it,

We raised the pay to the top of the market and it still didn't solve the problem.

In most cases, if you raise the pay to the top of the market, you have no more problems.

But that is not the case.

So we are still working, trying our best to figure out the best ways to attract the right individuals to stay in that driver's seat and to keep those buses rolling.

We will have the same number of bus routes this year at the start of school that we had last year.

But the good news is that we have candidates in the pipeline right now.

And by the end of September, we will have all 20 routes capable of being filled.

and that is not something that we have done in a couple of years.

Those are the number of slots that we have so I push to try to get those slots filled as quickly as we possibly can and then the test will be can we keep them all filled.

But ultimately we should be able to move more kids around this school year than we did this past year.

We were able to stabilize by raising the pay and my budget director over here

We worked hard to find that money and she's always trying to help me figure out how do we do this, how do we do this.

We were able to get that done and again it didn't solve the problem.

So it is much bigger than just compensation and we have to recognize that and I'm working with the superintendent.

We have a meeting next week actually to just kind of preview the start of school.

and one of the conversations will naturally be about bus drivers and the route so I've already broken that news to him now that we're okay and that we'll be getting better shortly after the school year starts.

There was a question about open data sources.

I guess more or less the city being transparent is the way I'm going to take that.

Our budget team has worked very hard over the past year to put more and more information online.

Our budget team meetings have taken a shift.

and that we are really focused on data.

We talk about a lot of stuff, and we have to say no to a number of things, but we're actually looking at data way more often than we have, and we're putting that information on the website, making it available to people, and we will continue to do that.

Chrissy has said that we will put as much of it out there as we can.

We're always concerned about it being useful, so we do need to hear from you if it is working, if it's useful, so if there's more that you're looking for, tell us what you're looking for.

Be specific and we can probably do something to make that actual information available to you.

But we know we have a lot of information.

One of the things that I've actually said to staff is that some of the issues that we face where our public may be a little hard on us is that they know we know answers to the questions.

We just won't answer the question.

We shouldn't be doing that.

If we know that there is basic information that they're looking for, let's get them the information.

And it's whether you like it or not, and I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you, I'm kind of a straight shooter when it comes to that.

I'll tell you, if it doesn't really land well, at least I told you.

It's better than me holding on to it and you're not knowing and then you're being angry about it and you get Peter or somebody to come and beat me up about whatever it is that we didn't do.

So that's something we have to think about as well.

Let's see, we had a couple questions about how can you help me take care of myself and take care of the city?

I guess the reality for me in that is stay engaged.

I would love for you to stay positive.

It doesn't really help a whole lot to be negative.

It takes a lot of energy to be negative.

But I also think the comment that I made before is if you're angry about something, tell us what it is.

Be specific.

Give us the details.

Give us a chance to do something about that.

if you want something then you need to be able to tell us exactly what that is be specific about that as well give us a chance to figure out can we or can we not and if we cannot we will tell you why I think it's the clarity of the communication that will really make a difference in this this is not an easy job I recognize that and I don't think any of the jobs that this team that works with the city is doing is easy

because we're all doing public service work and people take public service to mean a number of things and when they get mad they love to say I'm paying your salary.

And yes, you are, but it really doesn't work like that.

So that's really the thing that we have to try to balance.

I mean, our goal is to be able to deal with the fact that we want to be accountable to you, we should be accountable to you, and we should be able to tell you what it is that you need to know, and we should be able to at least attempt to solve whatever problems that you may bring to us and help meet needs that you may have.

Let's see, there was a question about our compensation study and the statement was, why would you take the money to spend on a compensation study when there was no money to then implement the study?

Well, that's not what we did.

We did a study because a study is a best practice.

That is what you do in human resources.

You get the data to prove where your people should be on a pay scale.

And once you do that, then you do your best to place them where you deem them to be on that pay scale as appropriate.

Naturally, it's gonna come at a cost.

Well, at the start of the study, you never know how much that cost is gonna be because the market is what's gonna drive your results and that's gonna tell you how much more money you have to come up with.

What we have done is we did commission a study.

We got,

less than what we hope for in the way of a complete study.

But we are working hard with what we got and we met even just a matter of an hour ago presenting information to council members just to give them an update as to where we are.

We intend to have an employee hearing next week letting employees know what the adjusted pay scale looks like, where their positions fall on that pay scale, and a compensation policy that goes along with that.

Is that the end of it?

Absolutely not.

There is so much more work that has to be done.

And we're trying to be fair and equitable in how we do this work because we have a number of employees, right?

And I know, and I don't have to have the employees in the room raise their hand because they want, but everyone believes that they are due to be paid more than they're being paid.

Me too.

Everybody thinks that way, right?

We've all been there and we all have had that feeling.

The reality is that we can't do what everyone wants us to do, so we have to try to do it as equitably as we can across the entire board that is in front of us.

So it requires us to be disciplined.

That's my favorite word to council members.

I say it a lot, right?

That's my word.

We have to be disciplined in our approach, and we really, really have to measure how we do this.

It will not be something that we can implement in one year.

We never imagined that we would do it in one year, so there was no reason for us to set aside in the budget however many millions of dollars because one, we didn't know how many millions we needed, and two, there are other things that also need to be addressed along the way, and when you're dealing with something in a more measured way, you have to take

take chunks of it, take pieces of it, and really be focused on doing that.

So we anticipate that our compensation shift is going to be a multi-year process.

we're not exactly sure how many years at this time but it is a multi-year process but this is modernizing a pay scale for a city organization that has been off track for way too long and we are now trying to course correct so it requires time and that's really the message to the team is that we're asking for patience and I recognize that we could have done a lot faster if things were perfect they haven't been

They're not perfect now and we'll get there but at this moment we just need everyone to appreciate that our human resources team is a good group of people.

They take a lot of heat.

I've been standing in the fire for them and I will continue to do that.

They're trying their level best to get this done as quickly as we possibly can.

And with that we will have a better workforce, a happier workforce, one that is actually working even harder when we can fix this.

So that is why it's important for us to get that done.

Let's see, let's talk about police.

I see the police chief here.

Get on the hot seat with me.

Folks, of course, are concerned about increased gun violence.

What are we going to do to maintain relationships with our community?

And what things are we going to do besides gun buyback program?

I guess what I'll say to you is that in my most significant past role of employment I spent a great deal of time talking to people and in that job what I did was I represented an area of 40,000 people and it was a non-profit organization that had a reach out of this world but what was interesting about that area it was the dividing line for wealth and poverty in the city of Baton Rouge so I had to talk to wealthy people just the same as I had to talk to people who had difficulties paying their bills

and what I was able to do in those conversations is to really listen to what it was that they were saying and I heard the same things.

That's what people miss.

We all want the same things and that is you want to be able to go home safely.

You want to be able to stay in your home and be safe in that home and you want the opportunity to do whatever it is that makes you happy just like the next person.

In order for us to do that, we have to know each other.

That is one of the responsibilities of our police department, is to know the community that they serve.

That has been an initiative across this country forever and a day.

Not every department has gotten it right.

We haven't always been on the side of right, but we're doing better at it, and we're going to continue to do better at it.

That guy that we hired is doing a good job.

We have to keep supporting him, one, because he can't go anywhere, because he's not done, and we've got to make sure that we make the difference that we promised when we hired him.

The thing that we will do is continue to be out in the community.

So he's already been doing walks.

Mr. Rogers did walks.

I guess I'll be doing some walks soon.

And the reality for that is just to help people understand that we do care.

We're going to come out, we're going to talk to you, we're going to meet you where you are, and we're going to listen.

and it's not gonna always be easy.

I know he has learned how to let people tell him what they tell him in a job that is hard to do.

I recognize that I take on that mantle as well and I can take it, I can deal with it.

The point of the matter is when people are upset and they're expressing a frustration, there's something there.

That's what it's about.

What is that?

What is it that we're trying to get to?

Is it that they feel like we're not treating them fairly when we come into contact with them?

Well we can do something about that.

Is it that the last time we called we didn't do anything so therefore why call because you don't come when I ask you to?

Is it that well the next time you come you might actually be less enthused about it because you had to come before so therefore you're thinking it's my problem and that's why you're here?

Any of that and all of that may be true at one time or another but the responsibility is service.

that's what we lead with and that's what we have to be able to do within our police force and we have to make sure that the men and women who wear that badge are responsible and respectful at all times it is important for me to see that I will be talking to them as well because I think it'd be nice for them to hear that as well and ultimately we just continue to do our best to just build bridges into the community and talk to people and let them inform us on how we do the work that we do

There are many programs.

I don't know what all the chief is thinking about.

I actually just asked him to do a self-assessment.

He brought it to me today.

He's that good.

And in doing so, it'll be the engagement of the conversation.

I haven't really spent a lot of time with him.

I now get to do that.

I want to know what's in his head.

What is he thinking about?

He's my expert.

That's the whole point of this particular relationship is for me to figure out how to support him in doing what we need to do.

I expect him to be ready for me to challenge him and offer the things that I've heard in the community just the same and with that I think we will have a beautiful relationship that's the plan and that we will do the work that needs to be done and always be accountable to all of you that's why we're here all right let's see the downtown mall I got a couple of questions on the downtown mall I'll tell you that the downtown mall to me is beautiful

I know you may struggle with it because it might have been better, fancier, prettier, lighter meaning more light shining at night.

I think it's fabulous.

I've been in communities that would kill to have that amenity in their downtown.

So it means a lot to me that it exists.

First time walking on it, all I could think about is I remember being in so many meetings dreaming about something like this.

and the places that I've been still don't have it.

So it's special that we have it.

That also means we have to protect it.

In a few years the downtown mall turns 50.

That's a great milestone.

That guy said let's do something about it.

In 50 years we should have a lot of problems solved, right?

So he formed this committee that I will now get to continue with the charge of carrying it forward.

where we have engaged the community to plug in with staff and the whole point of this exercise is to talk about various issues but also various opportunities because I don't like to stay negative, remember?

So we're talking about both.

We're talking about the issues and we're trying to figure out what are some of the various solutions that we can work on but we're also looking at what are some opportunities that ensure that the mall means something to the next group of people for the next 50 years.

There's a lot there.

We know that we need better lighting.

We know that the cafe spaces is a point of controversy.

We know that the fountains, Lord knows, I know the fountains are a point of controversy.

We want to reconcile all of that.

We want to do what we can to make sure that everyone can really begin to appreciate that.

The mall is for everyone.

And the way that you measure the success of the mall is does everyone have an opportunity to engage with it?

That's a big question.

And I would venture to say that the answer today is not everybody.

So that means we have work to do.

So part of what this committee has been tasked with is to break down what are the various issues and to evaluate even what staff is considering doing right now.

And we are using those moments to change what we may be thinking about doing, expanding what we are thinking about doing, and actually then adding additional things to the list that we may be able to do.

We'll continue to do that.

When Mr. Rogers pulled it together, we talked about it being a one-year effort.

I don't think it'll probably be that because the conversations have been heated at times because it's a lot and there's a lot there.

But I think that we're making good progress.

We have a few projects that we can actually begin now.

That's what we're talking about.

We're not going to wait until the end and roll out a list of things that we can do and then begin to determine if we're going to do it.

We're going to actually do some of these things now.

so you will be able to see that we're really focused on them all because it is a beautiful asset and it's one worth protecting.

Let's see.

I had a question about the Confederate monuments.

All I'll tell you is that's a lot of litigation.

I have nothing else to say about it.

Keep watching the news.

Let's see, this is a nice one.

During the city council race, there was a lot of chatter about building sidewalks.

We can do better.

Like I said, we've added the project manager positions.

Let me just also on that take a point of pride in pointing out that one of the things that Mr. Rogers said to us as a team after becoming frustrated by repeat emails that have come in about the subject of ADA, he said that we need to adopt a culture of compliance.

and I heard that and it landed with me in a way that I said yeah we really do because that would show that we really care because ADA is about individuals having access and it is putting yourself in the place of someone and ensuring that they get to experience the same thing that you get to experience and that their disability is not the reason why they don't.

We as a community have a lot to do in this space

There's a lot of work that needs to be done.

It is very expensive work that we have identified that needs to be done.

But we are really, really working hard with it right now.

We moved the ADA coordinator out of NDS and placed it within our Office of Equity and Inclusion to prioritize it.

We have added an additional position to support ADA efforts so that we can ensure that more attention can be paid to what we can get done.

We have put out an RFP and selected a contractor for a new transition plan because in 2013 we did a transition plan and what do you do with plans?

We put it on the shelf.

And it's been on the shelf for all that time and we have not been doing everything that we need to do.

This time that will not be the case.

We've already started having internal conversations about how the team needs to be deployed on working on its implementation when it's done.

But there's a lot there, and I think what I'm even using this moment, I'm actually confessing, I feel like I'm in a confessional at this moment.

We're at risk.

We could get hit with a lawsuit any day.

from anyone, and the Department of Justice, if they came here, would tell us to pay up.

That's how bad it is.

So for that reason, I've been focused on it quite a bit.

I have spent many hours putting many words together trying to explain to many people what it is that we're doing, including the state and the federal government, in an attempt to ensure that if we were to ever get visited by those individuals from DC, then at least we're showing best effort.

and that's what it's about right now is to demonstrate best effort.

When they get here they're not expecting you to be perfect but they want to show that you care.

They want to see that you care and they want you to demonstrate how you're expressing that care and we will be there very soon.

I feel confident that we might be able to actually have a very great conversation with them versus the one that's been terrifying me for a few years, for a few months I must say, that we might end up being a headline in national news like some other communities that have chosen to do nothing.

It is important.

We have a lot of people who love to come to the city and we should ensure that those folks get to experience it the same as everyone else.

Climate action.

We know there's a lot of interest in climate action.

Their question was about how is it going with implementation.

The environmental sustainability team, after getting the plan adopted in December, have developed a work plan and the statement that I made to them was that we need to produce a work plan every year.

That work plan needs to go on the website and that gives the public the ability to see what we're doing.

That work plan should state not only what we're doing,

When are we doing it?

And how much does it cost?

and the other part, who's doing it?

Because not everything about the Climate Action Plan is about what the city government itself can do.

There's so much more beyond what we can do that the rest of you can do.

And that's part of where I think the transition of the conversation will go is we'll begin to work on the external components of this because if we are going to then focus heavily on integrating climate action into our existence and our operations, you need to do the same in your homes.

and we need to help you identify how to go about doing that.

It's very interesting and very difficult to process the notion of shutting down our gas utility.

No one's calling to ask us to turn it off though.

So there's some balancing, some reconciling of that matter that we need to also work through and appreciate.

It's a complicated activity to go through something like that.

I'm prepared to have the conversation.

I'm willing to talk to anybody about it, but there's some demonstrated behaviors that also need to support some of the requests that are being made, and I think that's really where the conversation needs to focus.

The rest of it, what I'll say to you about climate action is that it is important.

We're doing a number of things.

We just had council receive a presentation on the alternative fuel study for how we can transform our bus fleet.

There are a number of things that we can do there.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done.

There are many opinions on what is right.

I think our goal is just to figure out what is right for us.

That's the question, because right for us may be different for someone else.

So we're trying to figure that out, and that's where most of our attention needs to continue to be paid.

Let's see, I think I have one last question and then we'll open it for you all to shoot straight at me.

All right, I was asked, have you walked the Warner Parkway?

I have.

Have you noticed the kudzu?

Of course.

Would you support efforts by Parks and Rec to stop the spread?

They wish I would support them by giving them every dollar they've ever asked for, sure.

And what do we do about kudzu?

Lord knows I didn't know what kudzu was when I first got here, but I have spent a great deal of time talking about kudzu.

Well, I'll say that most of the Jack Warner Parkway is in the county, so we can't control it once it leaves our line of authority.

But Parks and Rec has been talking to the county a lot and trying to figure out how we can collaboratively approach this particular issue.

We are at this moment having some discussions, councils having discussions with the Board of Supervisors about a joint meeting.

This could be one of those moments that we can talk about how we can work together to solve some of those problems that don't really recognize a line of boundary.

I'll just say that we are doing what we think we can do at this moment to attack the issue.

I know that the team would tell me, give me more money and I'll do more.

But so is every other team member saying, give me more money and I will do more.

So we have to balance that and that's really what we're trying to do.

So that's the honest answer.

And I'll tell you that we continue to look at the issue and we'll continue to try to figure it out.

Even had a conversation about bringing goats to the city.

So, would anybody like to come to the mic and ask a question?

You don't have to.

But you are welcome to.

Uh-oh.

You know it's me.

I just want to counteract the no one's asked us to turn off their gas.

I have and I know a lot of people who also have eliminated gas from our homes.

Hi.

Hi, Sam.

Congratulations, by the way.

Thank you.

I have a question about the filling of the communications director job.

My understanding is that it's been vacant for about a year and a half since Brian Wheeler left, specifically public outreach.

I knocked on a lot of doors during the campaign and talked to a lot of people and the level of

is just amazingly, alarmingly high, and a lot of that has to do with nobody knows what's going on.

I'll tell you that I recognize that because I've heard that myself.

The director of communications position has been a priority.

It has been advertised.

We actually did the first round of interviews last week.

We have very solid candidates.

The next phase will be to bring in a group of finalists and I hope to be making that decision next month.

My intention is to select someone next month and hopefully get them here as soon as possible.

To just demonstrate how we recognize to the point that the gentleman made about the engagement of people, we changed the name.

That was something that Ashley and I did when we got

when we were given the opportunity to be in charge.

We actually took a look at what we were doing in the communication space and thought about some of the things that we had heard as we walked out into the community and talked to people.

And it was always that we just don't know what's going on.

We don't know why this road is closed.

We don't know when is it going to open.

We don't really understand what's happening.

Nobody's telling us certain things.

and one of the first things that we did was we changed the title of the position so it's now the Director of Communications and Public Engagement and it's to really focus on that is a priority as well and the person that we're looking for is someone who we believe will come in with a different perspective than just simply figuring out how to put your words together, write a press release and tell somebody what may be happening.

Stop.

There's more to public engagement.

It's understanding that, and Lauren, I'll use you as an example, and it's not you, your department.

If we're gonna shut down a road for six months, and the road is going to be shut down for at least six months for a very significant project, we have to do more than just hang a door hanger once, right?

Because it's six whole months.

Who remembers the door hanger five months in?

We also have to recognize that if the project changes and it's now going to be eight months, someone needs to tell the people whose lives have been impacted that it will now be longer, not six, it will be eight months.

It's just that simple.

But when we're running and we're rolling and we're going, we don't always think about it that way.

And it's not to say that the team doesn't care.

They're doing 50 million things because she works them that hard.

The point of the matter is we can't forget that there's a group of people on that street who can't get in and out of their driveways.

They have to walk to their homes if they have to park somewhere else.

They're not able to enjoy the basic amenities that everyone else is entitled to for that period of time.

and no one told them that it was going to be two additional months.

We can do better than that.

And that's the example.

Those are the things that I've looked for as I've talked to the team about, so how do we communicate with our public about this particular project?

How are we telling them that this is going to change?

When are we telling them this is going to change?

The reason I'm asking those questions is because I do believe I come at this with a very different perspective.

I am not grown up in local government.

I fought government.

I was one of those crazy people, but I wasn't as crazy as some of the people I deal with here.

But I'll say, I was one of those people who demanded change, who wanted things to work, who wanted to actually engage with the government and make things better.

And that gave me the perspective that I'm now bringing to the inside.

It gives me the chance to question a little bit differently.

And what I do see is I see light bulbs going off.

I see people acknowledging, you're right, we can do that, we should probably do that.

And sometimes they actually start it before I even say anything.

that's when I know that it's working so I'll continue to do that.

So I do appreciate the comment and I do appreciate that we can do better with engaging with the public.

I have a lot of ideas for our director of communications.

They'll probably be scared but we're gonna try some things.

Let's just put it that way.

Who's next?

The reporter can come up too if you want to.

I know you're gonna ask me a question.

Anyone?

Well, if not, I will say to you, thank you.

I appreciate this opportunity.