City Manager's Report
Author: Julie Gordon
Ron Secrist says the toughest challenge he's faced during his two years as Boulder's city manager has been what to do with Crossroads Mall.
"It's hard to not be perceived as being ineffective as a city government of impacting what's going to happen on that Crossroads project," said Secrist, who was the guest speaker at Boulder Tomorrow's Aug. 24 luncheon.
Secrist said Crossroads - which represents 60 of the 300 acres within the Boulder Valley Regional Center - only accounts for 5 percent of the city sales tax revenue while the Boulder Valley Regional Center accounts for 25 percent.
"It seems like we are impotent to make anything happen," Secrist said. "I can tell you that we're working extremely hard, and negotiating with the trust which funds the land, and of course the mall developer (Macerich Co.), who has control over the ground and lease. But so far, we have not been able to deliver. And I think that's a responsibility we have. It's a responsibility we take very seriously. We want to help get those folks moving off dead center. We have not been successful yet, but we're sure working hard at it."
Secrist said the land Crossroads is on is a valuable piece of real estate should be producing good things for the city.
"We just can't seem to make the combination of the developer, the land owner, the city with all its diversion, opinions and voices come together to allow something to happen that is consistent with the values of this community."
Besides Crossroads, other tough issues Boulder is facing include affordable housing and traffic congestion, Secrist said.
"We have some issues facing this community that are extremely challenging, but we are also fortunate in that the issues we have are not catastrophic," he said.
The relationship between the city and the university could be improved, Secrist said. "It's embarrassing to me that our relationship is not better," he said. Secrist said there's a different dynamic that occurs in Boulder than in most other cities with major universities because Boulder has an elected regent system as well as an elected city council system.
In most communities, Secrist said, the city council and city manager have a relationship with the chancellor or president of the university and his or her key staff, and the relationship is policy and practice-driven.
"I have the greatest respect for (Chancellor Richard) Byyny, Paul Tabolt, Ron Stump and the key staff that I work with at the university," Secrist said. "We can all stand up here collectively and say we have very good mutual, respectful relationship. We have very understandable disagreements on the policy level. This is not inconsistent, though, with other college towns. Most college towns like this, where the university is such a dominant player and is not in a metropolitan area, are either restricted growth, no growth, or growth-managed communities. Then you have a very dynamic, research-oriented university. They cannot find success in not having growth. So they'll have a growth plan that will always be somewhat in conflict with the local government. The key is to try to find that balance where they're managing, mitigating the impacts of their growth. Research growth is always more impactful than student growth, for example. The key is coming together on the mutually-agreed upon litigation to the growth that the university is pursuing, so it is not impacting negatively the housing, the transportation markets, and those other things technically lead to the city and cause the city to react in funny ways to the university."
Bruce Dierking, of the Boulder law firm Hutchinson, Black & Cook, said he thought Secrist's comments on the relationship between the city and the university were insightful, and that that he personally found them useful.
"It's time for the city and university to start working cooperatively," Dierking said.
Dierking said there's a need for Boulder as a city and community to discuss what the economic sector should look like. There's still an opportunity to have a vibrant economy in Boulder, but that the retail sector is at risk right now, Dierking said. He said Boulder is losing the opportunity to attract retailers to city.
The city really needs to hire a professional economic development manager who can deal with the issues of economic vitality and keeping the retail sector strong, Dierking said. Secrist, however, said he didn't feel it is necessary to create such a position. "I think the rest of the city's policies and efforts are not in line with what a professional economic development person would bring to the city," he said. "We would add a very high frustration level very quickly."
According to Secrist, 51 percent of Boulder's budget is sales tax oriented. It is the sales tax dollars in Boulder that make all the difference and make the city what it is, he said.
"Every time you make a purchase in Boulder, you get open space," Secrist said. "You get transportation. You get parks & recreation packages. Dollars come in. That supports those types of amenities."
When people make a choice about where they buy things, they aren't probably thinking about how if they stay in Boulder, the sales tax will benefit the city, but they should think about that, Secrist said.
The city will still be able to provide amenities if there's a drop in the sales tax, but it's very important to have it, Secrist said. Secrist discussed his personal approach to working with the city council. "I value very much the democratic principles and tend to be more on the side of providing hopefully outstanding and balanced reports, pros, cons and options to the city council, helping them facilitate their complete discussion and involvement with the public to show that the staff is being fair on the issue and being objective," Secrist said. "I'm very much the type of city manager who will not show up to city council in public, who will not attempt to be the tenth member of the elected body but who will help work with all of them. I would hope that the most liberal member of council and the most conservative member would be able to stand up in front of you and say, 'You know, I always felt I was getting a straight story from Ron, that Ron was always as accessible to me as he was to so-and-so, and that Ron provided good, objective information for us to make a good decision."
Secrist said one of his goals as city manager is to "focus on the customers" and improve the level of satisfaction that people have with their local government. "You're not always going to agree with your local government, but we want to improve the level of satisfaction and the level of confidence that you have in our ability to carry out the responsibilities that you've provided to us," he said.
Another of Secrist's objectives is to make sure that there's good communication between him and the public.
"It's all very consistent with what I'm about and what I think is an important role for the city manager to play in leading the city organization," he said.
City officials need to be accessible, and they should also be held accountable to the public through data and results, Secrist said.
Secrist said he'd like to see more people in Boulder's business community get involved in the public process. He said that in the four communities that he's been in that have large universities in them, the business community is always underrepresented. "You don't have the basis of time, your activism is not equal," Secrist said.
Every month, Secrist gives out the Bravo award, which recognizes people who have demonstrated excellence in community service. "I go out into the workforce and do it in front of the peers," Secrist said. "It's another opportunity for me to get up on the soap box and to reinforce exceptional service and reinforce the wonderful stories that are out there. We are all very fortunate to be served by some outstanding city employees who do some tremendous things."
In July, Secrist recognized the mountain park ranger who was first on the scene when a little boy from Texas had been struck by lightening Flagstaff Mountain. Individuals who are chosen are rewarded with a $100 gift certificate and get to have their picture on the wall.
Boulder Tomorrow is one of the sponsors of the Bravo award, along with the Boulder Realtor's Association, Crossroads, and downtown Boulder, and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce.
Secrist is always out in the Boulder community himself. For example, he holds monthly "moccasin days" where he blocks out time from his schedule to spend part of the day with city employees.
"I've walked around with the parking meter personnel," Secrist said. "I've had the tough job of having to go skiing with the Parks & Recreation Department Program for the handicapped citizens. I've been at the Senior Center, at the intake window there and ridden with a group of police on Halloween night."
The idea behind "moccasin days" is that it gives Secrist the opportunity to have an impact on the 1,300 city employees who are doing a wide variety of jobs.
Secrist chose to call what he does "moccasin days" because it relates to the American Indian saying, "Great Spirit, grant that I not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."
Secrist said "moccasin days" has been a wonderful learning experience for him, and that it gives him the opportunity to talk with city officials about what his important to him as city manager. Overall, Secrist has really enjoyed getting out into the community.
"The best part is not the speaking but the listening," Secrist said. "You listen to learn. If you truly actively listen, you're going to learn something about what you can do and how you can improve upon yourself." The city council deserves praise, Secrist said. "They have worked very hard at focusing on a limited number of goals and attainable goals," he said. "This council is made up of nine very committed individuals who work very, very hard. Sure, they have diverse views, but they have a high degree of decorum. They have a high degree of wanting to get the job done, and each and every one of those individuals spends a great amount of time at their job. I value their support and I value their commentary."
Boulder Tomorrow President Earl McLaughlin said he thought Secrist has done a good job as city manager.
"From what I've heard and my own personal experience, I just couldn't be more pleased with what Ron has brought to the table," McLaughlin said.
