As I approach the completion of my first year as City Manager, I want to share with you a list of accomplishments. It has been a year of positive change, reinforced by the support of the Mayor and Council, staff and the community. We have worked together as a team, focused on results, with an emphasis on integrity as a priority to improve the City organization. This list reflects the work of many staff dedicated towards making both the organization and the community better.

In addition to meeting regularly with individual council members, I have met in small and large group meetings with more than 600 community representatives and organizations. I have delivered more than 100 speeches and presentations to outside groups discussing my organizational goals, the City Council’s priorities, community issues, and answering questions on City programs and services.

Dedicating an extensive amount of time to community outreach has enabled me to learn about San Antonio and to connect with everyday citizens, business people, and community advocates, neighborhood associations, business organizations, special interest groups, and individuals, who have given me their perspectives on City services and programs. This outside input was valuable and contributed to my first year work plan.

In this report, I discuss five major work elements of my first year as City Manager. Second, I also will discuss in lesser detail a summarized list of additional accomplishments.

The five major work elements include: 1) retaining and recruiting key executives, 2) reorganizing the City administration, 3) developing the largest proposed bond program in city history, 4) preparing a balanced two-year operating budget, 5) and initiating a major overhaul of the Development Services Department.

EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS       List of Executive Appointments

Since November 7, 2005, I have appointed 39 executives including Deputy City Managers, Assistant City Managers, Department Heads, and Assistant Department Heads. Beyond the professional recruitment processes leading to these appointments, four recruitments have included extensive community participation. These were the Police Chief, Aviation Director, Convention and Visitors Bureau Director, and Animal Care Services Director. A diverse group of community panelists met with the finalists for these high profile positions and identified strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. While time-consuming and labor intensive, this public process was comprehensive and provided valuable input in these appointments. Many thanks go to the more than 50 community representatives who participated on the panels for these important positions.

I have made a total of 39 executive appointments; 30 are internal promotions and 9 are external recruitments with 2 of the 9 coming from the San Antonio community. Of the 39 appointments, 23 are Hispanic, African American and Native American. This diverse group of 39 individuals with exceptional experience and educational backgrounds are dedicated and committed to serve our San Antonio community. A complete list of appointments is attached.

REORGANIZATION       City Organizational Chart

We have reorganized the city administration with two primary areas of focus: finance and administration; and planning and development. A copy of the new structure and organizational chart with positions and names is also attached; highlighted in red are my appointments. Further, we have reorganized several individual departments to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, reduce costs, retain key staff, and improve employee morale. The reorganizations included the Departments of Finance, Downtown Operations, Housing and Neighborhood Services, Planning and Community Development, Grants Monitoring and Administration, Administrative Services, Communications and Public Affairs and the Municipal Court.

PROPOSED BOND PROGRAM

In the spring, we provided the City Council with alternatives regarding a 2007 bond program. We considered this analysis from three perspectives: fiscal capacity, internal capability, and the public process. First, we looked at how large the program could be without a tax rate increase. Second, we examined our internal ability to accomplish a large program. Third, we discussed a public process. We recommended a five-year, $550 million general obligation bond program, the largest in city history and without a property tax rate increase. Over the past 12 years, the general obligation bond programs have been approved by voters every four years in amounts ranging from $115 - $150 million. City Council direction this spring was to focus the $550 million bond program on infrastructure: streets, drainage, sidewalks, and parks. A further discussion of projects and the public process will occur in November.

CITY BUDGET

The 2007 adopted budget addressed the City Council and community’s priority services and programs, and included funding for needed reserves. After receiving input from the City Council on policy priorities in May, we presented a proposed budget reflecting a 5/85 plan, i.e., 85% of available resources dedicated to the council’s top 5 priorities: more police, more fire/EMS personnel, increased street maintenance, more code enforcement officers, and greater financial reserves. The recommended budget included 100 more police officers (and reserved funding for 50 more police officers in 2008), 46 additional fire and EMS personnel, a 29% increase in the street maintenance budget, 8 more code enforcement officers, and $19 million in additional general fund reserves.

Staff asked for input from City employees, the community and the City Council regarding the budget. We encouraged comments from the public in a variety of ways: at all City facilities, through on-line computer input, in employee focus groups, and at community meetings. We produced a budget video summarizing my budget recommendation and took the budget “on the road” to all 10 City Council districts. Over 800 residents attended the district budget hearings and over 250 people spoke at the forums. We also published a budget pamphlet in English and Spanish and included the summary of the proposed budget in the Express-News and La Prensa newspapers, respectively.

In addition to focusing on the City Council’s top five priorities, the City Manager’s budget also recommended improvements to parks, libraries, animal care services, development services, automated garbage collection, and the arts. While adding priority services, the recommended budget also eliminated lesser priority items within the current budget by cutting $4.5 million and 243 positions. Finally, all City employees now earn a “livable wage” and no layoffs accompanied position eliminations.

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

When I arrived in San Antonio, some of the most frequent complaints expressed to me about city services concerned the Development Services Department. To date we have made several changes and improvements. I appointed a new department head; we added 8 building inspectors, we improved the One–Stop concept adding storm drainage, SAWS and CPS staff at the center; and we added Wednesday evening and Saturday morning office hours. We also reorganized the budget as a business enterprise operation, and added financial resources for more staff. We also engaged a consultant to review our work flow processes and provide an independent evaluation of the department’s operations and service delivery. We improved technical training for staff and customers, and implemented customer service training for employees to begin a departmental culture shift from regulator to facilitator of business development. A citizen’s task force is working with us to review and recommend business process improvements, customer service training feedback, and overall service delivery improvements

OTHER INITIATIVES, EFFICIENCIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. Fire Equipment (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus): We immediately responded to the malfunctions of the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Fire Department equipment in November 2005 during my first week as City Manager. We hired Southwest Research to assist with the analysis of the equipment. We recommended and the Council approved the replacement of new SCBA equipment. It was delivered and placed into use in the summer of 2006.
2. Community Infrastructure and Economic Development fund (CIED) Policies: We negotiated with CPS Energy regarding the funding and use of the CIED Fund. We reached consensus with CPS Energy for an additional unrestricted payment and brought these policy changes to Council for approval in February.
3. Main Plaza: We hired through a competitive process a design team to design the Main Plaza project, met with many community and stakeholder groups to obtain input on the plans and presented recommendations to Council in June that were adopted. We are in the bidding phase for drainage improvements with the overall project substantially complete by December 2007.
4. San Antonio River Improvements both North (Museum Reach) and South (Mission Reach): A funding plan for the museum reach of the river was recommended to council and approved this fall. Construction on the museum reach begins in December 2006. The Mission reach is in design and we continue to lobby Congress and the US Army Corps of Engineers for federal flood control funding.
5. City Council Agenda process improvements: Working with the City Clerk and City Attorney, we streamlined the City Council agenda process and provided opportunities for the City Council to devote more time and energy to major policy issues for the City, work with their constituencies, and to provide better public access to agenda detail. The agenda is now available electronically to the public and staff.
6. Municipal Court: In November 2005, after meeting with Presiding Municipal Judge John Bull, we engaged retired Municipal Presiding Judge Robert Dorfman from Phoenix, Arizona to consult and analyze our San Antonio Municipal Court and make recommendations regarding the business processes, technology, the detention center, and administrative organization of the court. The improvements were presented in the spring, approved by the Council, and are in the process of implementation. We are also currently working with the County on transferring magistration and detention functions to the County at substantial savings to the City and service improvements to the public.
7. Arts Funding: At City Council’s request, we developed a revised policy for appropriating public funds for arts organizations. The policy changes were approved in the first quarter of 2006.
8. SAP (Electronic Financial Management System) implementation: In January, I met with the president of SAP and launched a SAP health check. At no cost to the City, SAP spent four weeks analyzing the implementation of SAP city-wide. The result was a list of 113 recommendations that were reviewed with the Mayor and Council in April. We have developed a 12-month plan to implement all 113 recommendations and are approximately 65% complete with a target of April 2007 for 100% completion.
9. Technology and Records Management policies through Administrative Directives: In November 2005, we developed technology, email, and password usage policies for the City organization. These policies were reviewed and signed by every City employee with access to City computers. A records management policy was also developed this summer and is being implemented.
10. Ethics Program: We developed an Ethics Training program for all City employees and updated the City’s Ethics Policy. Mandatory training for all 12,000 City employees is underway and will be completed by January 2007.
11. Economic Development Policies: We reviewed the City’s Economic Development Incentive policies and made recommendations to the City Council on proposed changes. These were discussed at two B sessions and ordinance changes were approved by City Council. In addition, we worked on several major company recruitments in the past six months including Lowe’s Data Center and Sino-Swearingen. These companies represent high wage jobs for San Antonians consistent with the City and State of Texas economic development plans, as well as significant infrastructure investment supporting growth of CPS Energy. We have numerous pending economic investment opportunities with the potential announcement of these at the end of this year.
12. Environmental Services changes: We developed an accelerated plan to implement automated solid waste collection cutting the previous schedule in half. City Council approved these changes through the adoption of the FY 2007 budget. The result will be better service, more recycling, fewer lower paying jobs, better trained employees, and less cost to the City.
13. Animal Care Services: Working with our Animal Care Services Advisory Board, staff developed the 5-year Animal Strategic Plan that was adopted by City Council in June.
14. Texas A & M University: In September 2006, the Texas A & M University Board of Regents passed a resolution expressing their firm commitment to proceed with the development of a new campus in south San Antonio and also set a Fall 2009 opening date for the Texas A & M University – San Antonio campus. The City remains committed to this project and it is currently considering several sites within the City South area for the campus. After performing due diligence on these proposed sites, the City will work with Texas A & M to select the best location for the campus.
15. Continued Development of the Homeless Campus: In cooperation with the San Antonio Community Council to End Homelessness, substantial progress has been made on short-term and long-term strategies to address these extensive community needs.
16. Purchase of the Voelcker Estate: In June 2006, the Mayor and City Council authorized staff to begin the acquisition process of three parcels of privately owned property from the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund. We purchased the first 100 acres in August and have negotiated a purchase agreement on the remaining 200 acres.
17. Riverwalk Water Quality: I appointed a special committee in June to develop appropriate solutions to improve the water quality and clarity of the San Antonio River Loop. An interim report was presented to the City Council in October and the final report will be submitted in December. Short term improvements are being implemented.
18. Golf Course Management: In October, we presented a hybrid management proposal to the Mayor and Council in our effort to increase the quality and accessibility of golf at an affordable rate to citizens and visitors and to substantially improve the operations and maintenance of our golf courses. Staff is scheduled to bring forward an operating agreement in January 2007.
19. Innovation and Reform: Through reorganization and without increasing staff, we created a new city department that will focus on better city services at less cost to our residents, best practices of municipal government, technology improvements, and performance measurements.
20. Crime Response Unit (CRU): We developed a proactive response force to focus on violent crime, violent fugitives, and gang related activity across the City. In cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, the CRU has arrested more than 2,267 for felonies or misdemeanor infractions and cleared more than 4,031 warrants. The Police Department is currently reviewing the opportunity to implement the CRU on a permanent basis.
21. San Antonio Development Agency (SADA): Through City Council direction, we absorbed two core functions of land assembly and land acquisition into the City organization to maximize our community revitalization activities. These efforts complement existing neighborhood revitalization programs such as Neighborhood Planning, Tax Increment Financing, Affordable Showcase of Homes, Housing Rehabilitation, and Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization. These new responsibilities will be coordinated within the departments of Housing and Neighborhood Services and Planning and Community Development.

In summary, working as a team we have achieved many accomplishments and remain focused on professionalism and continuous improvement. Effecting change is never easy, but it is necessary as we work together to make San Antonio a truly great city. We are positioned to take the City to a new level and be recognized as one of the best cities in America.

I look forward to year 2 of my tenure as City Manager and I am planning to focus on the following areas:

• Continuous improvement of City service delivery
• The 2007 Bond Program Development
• Continued changes and improvements in the Development Services Department
• Successor leadership development and teambuilding within the City organization
• Filling the executive vacancies of Fire Chief, Economic Development Director, Environmental Services Director, Human Resources Director, and Assistant Aviation Director.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your City Manager.