The First Six Months: City Manager, Commissioners Set Initial 2024 Goals

Traverse City Manager Liz Vogel has been on the job just a few weeks, but is already facing several major time-sensitive projects with looming deadlines in the coming months. In a study session Monday, Vogel and commissioners – who went through a joint presentation on effective governance and city commission rules – created a list of goals for Vogel to prioritize in her first 180 days. Those include not only practical tasks like union negotiations and budget drafts but also priorities commissioners want Vogel to focus on, from walking the city to hearing from underrepresented citizens to maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Chet Janik, the former Leelanau County administrator who’s now serving as interim assistant city manager, helped facilitate the meeting between Vogel and commissioners. Vogel said that Janik offers a “wealth of experience” with boards and effective governance, having worked with multiple local municipalities and entities like Northwestern Michigan College. Vogel said she wanted to start off with a governance and goal-setting session with the aim of “establishing a strong foundation with the city commission during these initial stages of my tenure.”

Vogel outlined several “time-sensitive” tasks that will likely top her priority list in the first half of 2024. The first is creating the 2024-25 budget, which under the city charter must be presented to commissioners by the first Monday in May and approved by the board in June (the city’s fiscal year starts July 1 and ends June 30.) The city also has a new incoming finance director – former County Treasurer Heidi Scheppe – who will be working on the budget with Vogel for the first time. Reviewing the city’s capital improvement plan and including three-to-five-year forecasting will be part of the budget process, Vogel said.

The city also has four bargaining units with contracts ending on June 30 this year, requiring negotiations to renew those agreements. “Ideally we would have a new contract in place before the end of the fiscal year,” said Vogel, adding that’s “not always possible.” With Traverse City becoming an entitled community for Community Development Block Grant funding, the city also must provide a five-year consolidated plan and a fiscal year 2024-25 annual action plan to the federal government by May 15, a timeline that includes a required 30-day public comment period. The city has issued a request-for-proposals (RFP) for consultant assistance, with the timeline “tight but doable,” Vogel said.

Vogel said she’s in the process of hiring a permanent assistant city manager, which she hopes to do by the end of April (Janik is only available on an interim basis). That job listing will likely be posted by the end of this week. Vogel and commissioners will also have to work on approving new positions for the Traverse City Fire Department as part of its planned expansion and continue ongoing work with community partners on solutions for addressing homelessness, including the potential launch of a year-round shelter. “I think is (an area) where the city has the courage to lead deep,” Vogel said.

Finally, the city will soon embark on a strategic planning process. An RFP for consultant assistance will be posted at the end of this month, with firms reviewed in February, interviewed in March, and presented for approval to commissioners in April. The goal is to begin strategic planning in mid-May or early June after the budget is presented, Vogel said.

Those next several months of tasks are “not inclusive of other ongoing commission discussions regarding housing, facilities master planning with the county, or ongoing projects such as the construction of the Senior Center and FishPass,” Vogel said. “I will also need to carve out time to manage day-to-day responsibilities and begin building working relationships with outside agencies. That’s really the realistic review of priorities in the short term.”

Commissioners agreed Vogel’s list represented important priorities and were also asked by Janik to share any other goals they wanted the city manager to focus on. Commissioner suggestions tended to coalesce around two themes: getting to know the community better and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Commissioners recommended Vogel walk the city, build relationships with other community leaders and stakeholders, and specifically consider and seek out perspectives that may be underrepresented. Commissioner Jackie Anderson said city leaders should “ask ourselves aways whose voice has not yet been heard” and have a “strong commitment to have everyone represented at the table.”

Mayor Amy Shamroe said despite being a “relatively small city,” Traverse City faces numerous complex issues. “No one person...is going to solve it in a month or six months,” she said, advising Vogel to take the long-view perspective of her work. Other commissioners agreed, offering advice ranging from not answering emails once Vogel leaves work for the day except for emergencies to getting enough sleep to tackling problems in a thoughtful as opposed to immediate or reactionary way. Vogel said she wanted to model that approach for staff as well, and to have an open and collaborative environment with commissioners.

“I thrive on feedback...I want a free flow of communication,” she said. “I think we will make progress, but it doesn’t need to be rushed. It’s not a sprint.”