Tacoma's three-day interview process for city manager begins

Two locals, two out-of-towners, all eyeing a common prize: to be named Tacoma’s next city manager.

Tacoma’s version of the Final Four – finalists vying for the city’s top job – is now playing out in an intensive three-day interview process.

The pool of competitors range from the 42-year-old assistant manager in San Antonio, looking to head his first city, to the 58-year-old chief administrator of neighboring Lakewood, trying to lead his third.

There’s the manager of Davenport, Iowa, who’s credited with resuscitating that once on-its-heels Mississippi River city, and a recently named interim director whose short stint as top man in Tacoma has been consumed by the explosion of a budget crisis.

To the winner go the spoils of leading an organization with more than 3,800 employees and $2.7 billion in total budgets, in a city whose elected leaders describe as being on the dawn of a new era. With the top job comes big-league pay – the position’s salary ranges from $183,600 to $235,370 per year. But there’s also no shortage of challenges: a recessionary economy, aging city infrastructure and the looming prospects of major layoffs and service cuts.

From Thursday through Saturday, the finalists will participate in a series of private meetings, public receptions, televised forums, panel interviews and one-on-one interrogations. The City Council could make its choice for who will lead Tacoma into the future as soon as Tuesday.

RAY ARELLANO

Low-key but detail-oriented, Arellano, 56, has spent the bulk of his five-plus years in Tacoma as a fixer.

In 2006, then-City Manager Eric Anderson recruited Arellano, a deputy city manager and chief information officer in San Diego, to Tacoma – in part to weed out glitches with the city’s $50 million, problem-riddled software system.

Five years later, after the City Council lost confidence in Anderson and ousted him for various reasons, Arellano assumed the city’s top role and was hit with a new crisis: a $31 million budget shortfall.

In between, Arellano largely worked away from the public spotlight, taking on key but highly technical projects.

His strong background in technology – he was a private sector project manager who implemented financial systems for Miami-based Ryder System Inc., before overseeing big-time tech projects for the City of San Diego – likely will score him points.

Tacoma’s mayor and council envision developing Tacoma into a research and technology hub.

Several prominent Tacoma business and community leaders say they don’t have a read on Arellano, who spent most of his tenure as a deputy on internal projects.

Arellano, who with a $210,000 base salary earns more than any of the four finalists, describes a professional approach that diverges from the way critics have described the former city manager.

“Above all, I try to be inclusive,” Arellano said.

A retired Navy officer who served on a nuclear submarine, he presents a steady, at times wonky, demeanor. His management style is one that persuades, not orders.

Arellano’s professional approach has won him praise from council members, who’ve roundly lauded him for transparency and a collaborative attitude that some complained his predecessor lacked.

An open dialogue with council was one of three priorities Arellano set when succeeding his former boss. The other two – developing a new economic development strategy and providing a sound budgeting – also were issues some members had downgraded Anderson for before dismissing him.

In his first few weeks as interim manager, Arellano met with some of Tacoma’s top business leaders to help develop a new economic development plan.

“It was clear he wanted to learn more and he was open to ideas,” said Bruce Kendall, executive director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Economic Development Board. “But then, this budget thing hit and he’s been consumed by it.”

Just two months in the new job, Arellano recognized big problems with the general fund, as expected revenues fell short and key budget assumptions fell flat. He has since taken the council’s marching orders to draft a conservative budget-slashing plan calling for 167 layoffs, mostly to the fire and police departments.

The proposal, released this week, has drawn criticism in some labor quarters and outside business interests. Arellano said he understands hard feelings, but welcomes them.

“I want to hear from all stakeholders on any given issue,” he said. “Not only does it lead to better decisions, it fosters community involvement.”

T.C. BROADNAX

In San Antonio, Broadnax has managed to win over two very different special interests: Developers and preservationists.

Among the five city departments the 42-year-old assistant manager oversees in America’s seventh most populous city are Development Services and Historic Preservation.

His responsibilities have meant working directly with developers while San Antonio is undergoing a push to expand its housing stock in touristy River Walk and downtown.

It’s also meant dealing with preservationists who’ve lobbied for stronger city protections of historic properties. Representatives of both groups give Broadnax high marks.

“There have been significant advances in preservation since T.C. Broadnax has been assistant city manager,” said Nancy Avelar, president of the San Antonio Preservation Society.  “…Certainly he has been a leader in these efforts.”

The society’s top staff member cited a list of Broadnax’s accomplishments in city preservation, including helping to hire an effective city historic preservation officer and giving that staff member direct reporting authority to the city manager’s office.

Rob Killen, a lobbyist who represents private developers and businesses, said Broadnax has been an approachable point man for the city’s “in-fill” projects – an effort to build homes in the residentially sparse downtown.

Raised in Kansas, Broadnax – who prefers not to say what T.C. stands for (“It’s Total Control,” he quipped Thursday) – presents a laid-back but engaged style. Some San Antonio city insiders have described him as quiet – at times, almost overly so; others see that as an asset.

“He’s low-key,” said Killen. “But for a person in that position, you don’t necessarily have to be loud and blustery to be effective.”

Broadnax, who earns about $164,000 per year, also is the only finalist who has yet to hold a top management job. He’s now one of four assistant managers – the third tier in a city hierarchy that includes two deputy managers and the top administrator.

“To be a city manager has been one of my goals throughout my career,” he said. “… I’m ready to take that next step now. There’s a select and specific type of city I want to lead, and Tacoma is one.”

San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Scully, who recruited Broadnax in 2006, said Broadnax has proven to be a valuable asset.

“He’s a very solid professional and understands the workings of city government,” Scully said. “I’d hate to see him leave.”

Among Broadnax’s key responsibilities, he has supervised the city’s 26-branch library system, animal control services and code enforcement.

Before arriving in San Antonio, Broadnax served as a deputy manager of Pompano Beach, Fla., where he managed the city’s budget. He said he helped reduce that city’s tax rate, while at the same time building up rainy day reserves to help the city weather a recent recession and avoid layoffs.

“My budget strategy is to plan early and often and meet with the council and community on a regular basis,” he said.

CRAIG MALIN

Perhaps the loudest testament to Malin’s abilities as a manager is how badly his bosses in Davenport, Iowa, want to keep him.

“Craig is an innovator, he’s a visionary,” said Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba. “I don’t want to lose him. But he’s also underpaid, so we’re going to make a substantial adjustment in Craig’s pay.”

Malin, 48, Davenport’s manager for more than a decade, dismissed any notion he’s a candidate in Tacoma other than for his strong interest in the job.

“Good city managers are in the business to meet challenges,” the Chicago native said. “... I’m a serious candidate.”

Malin, who earns about $168,000 per year, also has serious credentials. That includes management experience with four cities, two counties, a regional planning commission and a charter school.

In 2001, when Malin took over as manager of the Iowa city of about 100,000, Davenport had hit hard economic times. Factories were shutting down, jobs were vanishing and people were fleeing.

Malin said he conducted “triage” of the city’s government – taking stock of how staff worked, reviewing assets and listening to what citizens wanted. Then, Malin said he set a goal “for Davenport not to just be good, but exceptional.”

The city became the first in America to achieve nationally accredited police, fire, public works, parks and library departments. In 2007, the U.S. Conference of Mayors named Davenport one of America’s most livable small cities.

“We have a very solid economy and our unemployment continues to drop,” said Alderman Ray Ambrose, who has served on Davenport’s City Council throughout Malin’s tenure.

Part of the city’s success, Ambrose said, has been Malin’s focus on neighborhood issues.

Malin’s strategy to cut crime in Davenport included a community policing program to reduce rampant crime in multi-family apartment buildings. The program put officers to work directly with landlords through various collaborative efforts – from tenant background checks to crime-watch programs.

“It’s just been incredibly successful,” said Ambrose, noting Davenport’s crime rate has plunged 35 percent in seven years. “Cities across the Midwest are coming here to learn how we did it.”

Several Davenport initiatives on Malin’s watch mirror recent or continuing efforts in Tacoma. He helped oversee a multi-million dollar renovation of Davenport’s minor-league baseball stadium, and he implemented a collaborative city program with the public school system to improve education.

When meeting with reporters Thursday, he pulled out a comprehensive annual financial report on Tacoma when asked how he’d deal with the city’s budget crisis.

“I did the math, and (Tacoma) added 544 employees from 2001 to 2009,” he said. “They had exceptional years of tax base growth in 2005 and 2006. And from then until now, they burned through some $30 million of reserves.”

The challenge, Malin said, is that “expenses and revenues are out of whack.”

“There needs to be a resetting of how the community goes about its work,” he said.

ANDREW NEIDITZ

He lives in and manages the City of Lakewood now, but for two decades, Neiditz called Tacoma home.

His wife taught at four elementary schools here. His children graduated from Wilson High School. And Neiditz, 58, worked downtown – first as a Pierce County project manager, then later as the county’s deputy executive and its public safety director.

“I know Tacoma,” he said.

Neiditz’s regional experience spans more than three decades, when as a 25-year-old transplant from the East Coast, he moved to the Northwest. He began working for the county in 1980, as a project manager who oversaw planning and construction of the county’s jail and who also coordinated the development of the county’s new 911 system.

Barbara Skinner worked with Neiditz while serving as a Pierce County councilwoman in the mid-1980s. Later, when Skinner won election as Sumner’s mayor, Neiditz worked for her as that city’s administrator.

“I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like him – employees, people in the public,” Skinner said. “He just has a knack for working with people, not in conflict. That really makes a difference.”

Neiditz lists a string of projects he says touts his management experience and regional expertise. As Lakewood’s manager, he oversaw major infrastructure projects, including realigning Pacific Avenue and extending public sewer access to Tillicum and Woodbrook. He also spearheaded a plan to address the rapid growth of Joint Base Lewis-McChord and its impacts on the region, served on the Sound Transit Board and sat on the South Sound 911 steering committee.

Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow, who was a council member when Neiditz worked as that city’s administrator, described Neiditz as an even-keeled manager able to work with a broad range of stakeholders.

“He’s a very good negotiator and extremely adept at achieving goals,” Enslow said.

One potential knock against Neiditz is a concern he’s managed much smaller suburban cities than Tacoma. Neiditz, a New York native who lived in Manhattan as a young man, takes issue with such concerns.

“My experience in county government certainly includes Tacoma and 19 other cities,” he said. “… Lakewood is also a very urban environment with a diverse population facing serious urban challenges, like Tacoma.”

Above any single experience or project, Neiditz – who at $156,000 per year makes the least of all four finalists – cites as his top skill an open management approach.

“When I came to Lakewood six and a half years ago, there was a group that had a major distrust of government,” he said, referring to Lakewood CARES, a watchdog group that ran candidates for council.  

Since then, community relationships with government have strengthened to a point where some residents who once opposed the city’s 1996 incorporation “now feel really good about the city,” he said.

It’s a philosophy of openness and trust that Neiditz said can translate well in Tacoma.

“The degree to what (the budget crisis) appears to be a surprise to some is troublesome,” Neiditz said. “… It appears that there has been some gaps in communication.”