Sheryl Sculley City of San Antonio, Texas Commentary A View from San Antonio: A City Manager’s Perspective Sheryl Sculley began serving as city n their art icle “Understanding Shared Roles in constituent-related needs. Th e policy–administration manager of San Antonio, Texas, in 2005, with more than 30 years of public manage- Policy and Administration: An Empirical Study dichotomy serves a useful purpose in San Antonio, ment experience. She is chief executive of Council-Manager Relations,” authors Tansu where collaboration is a central component of manag- offi cer of the municipal corporation of I Demir and Christopher G. Reddick explore the ing complex political and administrative issues. 11,400 employees, an annual operating and capital budget of $2.2 billion, and a popula- overall increase in “role sharing,” in which city manag- tion of 1.3 million residents. Previously, she ers actively participate in policy making and elected Collaboration in Practice served as assistant city manager of Phoenix, offi cials regularly engage in administrative issues. As city manager, I collaborate with the mayor and Arizona, for 16 years and as city manager of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Th e authors write that the increase in role sharing is council members to accomplish solutions to complex E-mail: [email protected] attributable in large part to the increasing complexity initiatives with a number of involved stakeholders. of policy making. In May 2012, San Antonio voters approved a $596 million capital improvements bond program for Th e mayor and city council serve as the board of 2012. During the bond development process, the city directors of the city organization and the city manager focused on community engagement, seeking input serves as the CEO running the business. As city man- from San Antonio residents on proposed projects. ager of the City of San Antonio, I work closely with Th e mayor and city council appointed four citizen the mayor and city council. In a large and complex bond committees composed of 131 individuals. Four city organization like the City of San Antonio, at times bond committees held a total of 20 public meetings the division between administration and policy is not to review projects and voted on a fi nal list of rec- completely clear. However, maintaining distinct roles ommended projects for the city council’s approval. helps ensure balanced and eff ective service delivery to While the city council appointed the citizen bond 1.3 million San Antonio residents. As city manager, I committees and approved the fi nal list of projects, Public Administration Review, oversee 11,400 employees and a $2.2 billion annual city staff managed the process, from analyzing and Vol. 72, Iss. 4, pp. 536–537. © 2012 by The American Society for Public Administration. operating and capital budget. Th e mayor and coun- recommending projects to facilitating the bond DOI: 10.111/j.1540-6210.2012.02606.x. cil members provide policy leadership and address committee meetings. Th is collaboration between city 536 Public Administration Review • July | August 2012 management and the mayor and city council helped budget development process. Th e political perspective ensure a successful, transparent civic engagement from elected offi cials helps staff understand the political process. impact of the budget. Th is highly collaborative process helps develop a successful budget. Additionally, the budget development and adoption process provides a helpful illustration of our collabora- Mutual Trust tive eff orts in San Antonio. During the budget process, Th e discussion in Demir and Reddick’s article regard- the administrative staff works closely with elected ing mutual trust between the city manager and city offi cials to develop a budget that refl ects community council is particularly relevant. Mutual trust enables and organizational needs and goals. In my role as city the city manager and elected offi cials to collaborate manager, I receive feedback from elected offi cials on on complex issues. To encourage this trust, I maintain policy-making priorities and provide advice regard- an open line of communication with elected offi cials ing the overall budget impact of policy initiatives. by meeting with them individually and collectively on During the six-month budget development process, a regular basis to review their priorities and provide the city staff develops a proposed budget that refl ects updates on policies and issues. It is critical for any elected offi cials’ priorities. Additionally, the Offi ce of city manager and city council to maintain a relation- Management and Budget and I work directly with the ship grounded in mutual trust; this allows manage- mayor and city council offi ces to engage stakeholders in ment and elected offi cials to focus on their respective community budget hearings in each of the 10 council responsibilities and to collaborate on complex issues. districts. Th e budget process ensures that the city coun- Th e authors write that when mutual trust is estab- cil is knowledgeable about signifi cant budget issues. At lished, elected offi cials incorporate the city manager’s the beginning of the budget process, we identify mayor expertise into policy making and refrain from man- and city council goals at a day-long budget goal setting agement operations—in San Antonio, this allows the session, develop a draft budget, and seek resident input mayor and city council to focus on policy initiatives at several community budget hearings. Th roughout while I work with staff to ensure eff ective and effi cient the process, the mayor and city council provide input service delivery. Mutual trust ensures successful col- on service delivery changes, priority-setting measures, laborative eff orts and allows city staff and elected offi - and program enhancements. Elected offi cials lend their cials to collaborate on issues when there is interplay expertise in eff orts to engage the community in the between administration and policy making. A View from San Antonio: A City Manager’s Perspective 537.