able- a different kind OF c.e.o.

C.E.O. as Your Chief Education Officer

You will often hear the Mayor referred to as the City's CEO. I agree, but I see those letters as standing for

Chief Education Officer

The Mayor's job is to educate the Council on how their laws and policies will affect the way things work within the City and at City Hall. The Mayor also needs to educate employees as to what it is the Council is asking them to do. Likewise, the Mayor should be educating citizens on what the Council has directed, how the City is implementing those directives, as well as what changes may be coming up and how the public can be involved. This applies not only individual citizens, but to the many charitable groups, organizations, and businesses that do so much good work in our community. The Mayor also needs to educate our State Legislature about the needs and challenges facing Manitowoc and advocate aggressively for legislation that helps the City or its citizens. Finally, the Mayor needs to educate anybody who might bring an event or business to Manitowoc to show them how it is a fantastic place to live, work, and play. Manitowoc has so many fantastic stories to tell and we need to share them so folks everywhere learn what they are missing.

The Better you educate yourself, the better you can help others

I have trained or educated at every job I've had, from Hawthorne Hdwe to Sony to the MPSD. I know you can't educate others until you've educated yourself. That's one of the reasons I've taken the coursework to be certifiable as a governmental Treasurer or Clerk through the UWGB's Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Institute.

However, there's more education a Mayor needs to help the Council make good decisions. I will work in (not visit) all the departments in the City to better understand their operations and needs. I will also ask all our local charitable and civic groups as well as any interested businesses to schedule times I can come to work and learn from them too. I know this will require a lot of my afternoon time the first few months, but I expect it will get more manageable after about 6 months. I know this is work that can never end as our community is always changing and (hopefully) growing.

I will hold monthly Public Information Meetings (which will be live streamed and archived) for anyone and everyone. I would like to have these at different places each month to highlight the many different places and events available in our great community. These meetings will be as much a chance for me to learn from you as you from me. And, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I will also have regular (weekly or biweekly) Community Updates. Remember those? You shouldn't have to wait for the Mayor to need something, or to be "friends" on Facebook to know what's happening. Community Updates will be collaborative and be live-streamed or available as video and audio files. I'm certainly hoping we can also get a couple of the radio stations to broadcast them. If you're old-fashioned, like me, we'll even provide a text version by email or real mail.

Respect for the Powers of the Common COuncil

As you will see throughout this website, one of the primary ways I plan to improve City operations is by respecting the decisions the Council makes and allowing the Alders to exercise and understand their role in our City Government was chartered. Click here to see how that can improve the budgeting process for everyone. I expect this will fundamentally improve how City Governance works with its Department Heads.

Our City structure leaves the hiring, firing, and discipline of Department Heads to the Common Council. This is one of the main reasons we are considered a Strong Council-Weak Mayor structure. You can read more on that here. This can be problematic if the Council wants one thing from Department Heads and their day-to-day administrator is telling them something else. It's kind of like having two bosses, one who says "I'm your boss" and another who can actually fire you. This just creates conflict and confusion.

Operationally, I will tell all Department Heads to remember that they work at the will of the Council, while I work at the will of the Citizens. I will expect Department Heads to have performance evaluations done by the people who hire and fire them, the Council. I also plan to work toward a 360 review process to help Department Heads get a better sense of where others see they can improve and providing the Council giving Alders a better sense of where the strengths and weakness of our Department Heads are. I see the Mayor's role in evaluations as the person who helps employees achieve the goals they've set in coordination with their Standing Committee and the person who helps the Council get a fuller understanding of what Department Heads (and their departments) do.

In Short

To make a better Manitowoc, I will:

• Honor our Strong Council-Weak Mayor structure to improve City planning and operations,

• Build and share knowledge by working within (not just with) our City departments, Charities, and Local Businesses,

• Provide Real Reporting to the Council, City Employees, and, you, the Public,

• Promote our abilities and passions to build a better Manitowoc and highlight and assist our Charities, Citizen Groups, and Businesses.

Manitowoc is a great place with so many great things going on. I am committed to making things even better and spreading the word on all the good works, events, and opportunities throughout the City.