An assignment was given to profile a professional who I look up to and and aspire to be like. I have chosen to profile Mesa's City Manager, Chris Brady because I believe he emulates a great City Manager. Why? First off, City Manager Brady agreed to the position with Mesa in a time when the city was dealing with a budget deficit to the lost in tax revenue and large amounts of citizens moving to nicer areas in the east valley. Second, Mesa was suffering from a reputation that the City is a "has been" and has no more potential. With his efforts, the city has leveraged federal grants and is now in a clean-up stage. The city is looking much nicer and more business are increasing revenue which in turn, goes back to the city. I have an enormous amount of respect for the man knowing that he assists with the city's 1.2 billion dollar budget. This is an incredible task for anyone and I wish that someday I can oversee a budget that large when I eventually run a city as the City Manager.
While shadowing City Manager Brady, I learned that he earned his Master's in Public Administration (MPA) degree at Brigham Young University (BYU). He eventually took a job in City Finance upon graduation and after 7 years, moved on to bigger roles that qualified him to run a city. To try to mimic that pattern, I work in finance, but my financial work is in the private sector. Once I graduate with my MPA degree from Arizona State University, I will seek out the opportunity to work in city finance. After several years in finance I will begin searching for deputy roles in the filed of City Management. I want to work as a City Manager because I love working with finances, I love allocating resources, and I do not wish to run in elections.
City Manager Brady gave me several bits of advice, and some of which I am currently applying. He recommended that I attended a respected MPA program and ranked ASU in his top 3 choices. He also advised me to gain as much financial experience as possible. As I do these, I hope that I will be able to find work in public sector finance.
What other backgrounds do you believe assist in strong city managers? Jim Thompson, Casa Grande City Manager and professor at ASU has a background in finance but also has a PhD in Organizational Behavior. Taking the courses we are required to have experience in during our program, which of those will also provide the experiences necessary to be an efficient manager?
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ReplyDeleteI just moved to the Phoenix region about a year ago, so I don't have much expertise on it by any means. However, I had heard many similar remarks regarding the city of Mesa and the idea that it lacked any potential. It is nice to hear that Mr. Brady has played such a crucial role in seemingly sparking a turnaround for the city, and hopefully it will be beneficial in the future for the region as a whole.
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