It's been 90 days since Steve Crowell began his duties as the new city administrator for Jefferson City.
After three months on the job, the News Tribune sat down with Crowell to talk about his experience so far and his plans for the future. Crowell began in Jefferson City on March 10, coming from St. Marys, Georgia. He was hired by a unanimous vote of the City Council, based on the recommendation of a selection committee.
Crowell said he's spent his first three months on the job learning and assessing the city and its needs. He said there's still a lot of learning to do about the area, the people and the culture before any changes would be considered. He said he is assessing goals, the way the city does things and why things are done a certain way, as well as the culture at City Hall.
"I feel so new, I really don't feel like I've been able to contribute a lot," Crowell said. "In the first 90 days, certainly just a lot of learning and making assessments.
"I don't know how somebody could just come in and say "well, this is what you guys need to be' without even understanding and knowing the history and the people and the reasons for all of that."
While he emphasized that it's still early, Crowell said some primary goals, at least for now, include developing the use of "outcome-based performance measures," which would establish first talking about the desired outcome then how to achieve it.
"We want to talk more about the outcome that we're trying to achieve and then try to measure, provide some performance measures on those outcomes," Crowell said. "So we're just getting started on that process."
Another goal of his is to have a strategic planning session with the City Council, which would provide an opportunity to discuss council goals, important issues and what elected officials want to see accomplished in the city. Crowell said he's unsure if that would mean a work session or a weekend retreat.
Crowell also noted that the city needs to ensure that its own story is told well, meaning city residents are able to understand not only what the city is doing, but why it's being done.
"It's outreach and, I think, engagement of the public," Crowell said. "I certainly want to make sure that we provide good customer service, I want to make sure that we engage the public, I want to make sure that we're able to explain what we do and why we do it, I want to make sure that we focus on the outcomes that we want to achieve, not just the stuff that it takes to achieve those."
When Crowell's hiring was announced in January, 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Scrivner, who also chaired the selection committee, specifically noted that Crowell had a vision for the city, though the councilman was unable to state what that vision was. Now, Crowell says the vision for the city is something that's set by the City Council and mayor.
"I'm always reluctant to answer that because I don't know that I'm the one to be able to set that," Crowell said.
"I think that's a mayor and City Council decision and direction. Now, hopefully I have some input on how we go about doing that."
"I work for the mayor and City Council ... I need to be real cautious that I don't get too far in front of the City Council."
Crowell said that discussion likely could be part of a strategic planning session in the future.
Crowell, who has been a city administrator and a city manager in several cities, said there aren't too many differences between cities in terms of functions.
The differences, he said, tend to be more in how things are done, but the end goal is usually the same.
"They all want to make a positive difference, they all want to do the right thing," Crowell said. "So often times it becomes a conversation or an issue about how do you go about that, and the mayor and City Council makes those trade-offs."
One difference, though, is the number of elected officials Crowell reports to. In Jefferson City, Crowell now has 11 different bosses, the mayor and 10 council members, though he noted he often feels that he has 43,179 bosses, which is the population of Jefferson City.
Previously, Crowell said the largest number of elected officials he reported to was nine, which was in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
In coming to Jefferson City, Crowell switched from the city manager position in St. Marys, Georgia to the city administrator position. The difference between two is often unknown, but typically city managers operate as the city's chief executive officer, while the mayor is more of a ceremonial and political leader without real administrative authority or veto power. A city administrator is typically seen in a strong mayor form of government, where the city administrator is more of an assistant to the mayor.
Though he has previously been a city administrator, Crowell said it is different and he's still trying to figure out exactly what his role is.
"I'm still trying to figure out a little bit about where the operations and the policy differences are and what my role is on the two, policy wise and operation wise," Crowell said.
But Crowell said the role of an administrator or manager often comes down to the elected officials themselves rather than which form of government a city has. He's said he's had experiences where he had more ability to implement programs and changes as a city administrator than in some places where he was a city manager.
"I think it's more a function of who you have, from my point of view, sitting in those elected seats," Crowell said. "It's not so much the position to me, it's the things that go along with that."
When asked if anything in particular has surprised him about his new city, Crowell said people are very involved and come in to City Hall with a lot of suggestions, something he appreciates.
"They come in with suggestions, it's not just coming in with a complaint," Crowell said. "I think that's great ... In a lot of cases, they come in with the data ... I've appreciated that and noticed that a lot."
And his biggest accomplishment so far?
"I've survived 90 days," Crowell said with a laugh.