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Friday, April 04, 2008

Brainstorm Committee Describes Mayor For Next Manager

Here are a few snippets of what attributes some Janesville residents are looking for in a new city manager.

The next city manager should ……

…… be a good communicator, be as comfortable courting new business as meeting with a group of Hispanics, need to change the image of the city, attract good-paying jobs, partner with the business community, have a regional vision, (He or she) has to be fearless, be visible in the community, have strong fiscal background, spend money for growth, build a team at City Hall, be a good communicator, find win-win solutions, be a visionary, be creative and effective, be pro-active on tourism and promotion, develop political relationships, seek good-paying jobs, pay attention to the declining neighborhoods, build a unified vision between diverse groups of people.
Hello God?….looking for a job? Hurry and apply now! We want the best….cost is secondary. Seriously though, gathered from these comments, what most of the people at the “brainstorm” session held at Janesville city hall were really looking for, but in complete denial on is ….. a mayor. Except for one attendee who appeared to have a good handle on Janesville’s unorthodox form of government and what roles and duties are expected of any city manager. Past, present or future.
JG Excerpt:
But businessman Joe Pregont said the vision, under a council-manager form of government, should come from the council and the community. The manager should be creative and effective in carrying out that vision.
I’m not taking anything away from the current city manager, but he is a hired hand and not much more. A Janesville city manager is simply a business manager who needs to balance the books without the worries of presenting a favorable P/L statement in front of a board of directors, and delegate the steps necessary to accomplish our plan – not his. For this, we can hire. But for what the others want, we’d have to elect.


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