Sheryl Sculley reviews her first year as San Antonio's City Manager

As I approach the completion of my first year as City Manager, I want to share with you some accomplishments and why I believe San Antonio has untold promise and opportunity. It has been a year of positive change, reinforced by the support of the Mayor and Council, staff, and community. We have worked together as a team, focused on results, with an emphasis on integrity to improve the City organization.

I also want to thank the San Antonio community for welcoming my family and me with genuine abrazos of kindness. Your acceptance and encouragement are indicative of a citizenry that is willing to embrace new leadership and a new approach to the way business is conducted at City Hall.

Over the past year, I have dedicated time to community outreach enabling me to connect with residents, neighborhood associations, business representatives, special interest groups, and individuals who have given me their perspectives on City services and programs. Their input has been invaluable as we have tackled the budget, bonding capacity and business professionalism issues.

Since November 2005, I have appointed 39 city executives including Deputy and Assistant City Managers, Department and Assistant Department Heads. The recruitments for Police Chief, Aviation Director, Convention and Visitors Bureau Director, and Animal Care Services Director included community participation. Many thanks go to the more than 50 volunteers who participated on interview panels.

Of my 39 appointments, 30 are internal promotions and 9 are external recruitments with 2 of the 9 coming from the San Antonio community; 23 of the 39 are Hispanic, African American and Native American. This diverse group of individuals with exceptional experience and educational backgrounds are dedicated and committed to serve our San Antonio community.

Fiscal responsibility is paramount to the success of any organization. I have focused on the development of methods that will secure the growing success of our city. In the spring, we provided the City Council with alternatives regarding a 2007 bond program addressing the city’s financial capacity, staff’s capability to implement, and the public process. We recommended a five-year, $550 million bond program, the largest in city history without a property tax rate increase.

We recommended and the Council approved a 2007 annual budget including 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.

A video summarizing the budget was produced and the budget was taken “on the road” to all 10 City Council districts. More than 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.

My recommended budget also eliminated lesser priority budget items by cutting $4.5 million and 243 positions. All City employees now earn a “livable wage” and no layoffs accompanied position eliminations.

Improvements are being made to the business practices of the Development Services Department. I appointed a new department head, added building inspectors, improved the one-stop concept by adding drainage, SAWS and CPS staff, extended hours of operation, and re-established the budget as a business enterprise. We are focusing on technical and customer service training for staff.

The City Council agenda process has been streamlined and on-line computer access to all agenda materials for staff and the public has been implemented.

A “health check” of the city’s fledgling financial management system was initiated, resulting in 113 recommendations, of which 65% are completed. The balance will be implemented by April 2007.

The malfunction of Fire equipment was immediately addressed by replacing it to ensure the safety of our employees and residents.

An Ethics Training program was developed and attendance was mandated for all 12,000 City employees.

An accelerated plan to automate garbage collection was developed. The result will be better service, more recycling, fewer low paying jobs, a skilled workforce, and less cost.

Working with the Animal Care Services Advisory Board, a Five-Year Strategic Plan was developed which was adopted by the Council.

The City’s economic development policies were updated and we collaborated on the recruitment of several technology, financial service, and aeronautical businesses to San Antonio.

In summary, working as a team we are 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.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your City Manager and thank you for welcoming me to this wonderful and vibrant community.

Sheryl Sculley

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