Q/A

Sallisaw City Manager

I posted an announcement of applying for this open position of Sallisaw City Manager on FaceBook called Sallisaw Transparency. The post received several supportive comments. But also, there were several questions. Those questions and answers are shown below.

Q. Reading the description for the Sallisaw City Manager job, I find it lacks mention of anything pertaining to the community. Other important things are omitted, too: public trust, quality of life, fiscal prudence, diplomacy, effective communication and listening, critical thinking/problem-solving, and innovation. What are your thoughts?

Me: I agree with you. Fundamentally, the role should be about the community. Given the current situation, building public trust and confidence would seem to be a priority, but it was not mentioned.
The definition of social justice varies so widely that its exclusion is understandable–but it should have been included in what the expression might mean to Sallisaw. Quality of life is also somewhat vague in that it means different things to different socio-economic groups. Both of these ideals are important. In my opinion, both of these expressions and phrases are insufficiently meaningful except as platitudes without definition clarity.
Essential skills for city managers should also include fiscal prudence regarding public funds, public diplomacy, effective communication, and effective listening to the citizenry, the business community, and other stakeholders.
Critical thinking, innovative thinking, and problem-solving are crucial to all leadership roles. Ethical behavior and project management excellence are also crucial in government.
    • Read “About Change” for my perspective on change.
    • Read “Our City” for my view-of Sallisaw.

Q. Isn’t this the same guy that hit a kid at sallisaw school?

Me: Yes. I inappropriately slapped a student on his shoulder for talking during a test. I was wrong for doing it. The expression “hit” is a bit misleading – but yes, this was me.

The school has wonderful teachers. School is for and about students. I failed that day.

Q. Why did he lose his job at the high school? The rumor was he smacked a student in the head. He can own it all he wants. Doesn’t change the fact that you should never trust someone that can’t keep their cool even with an immature high school boy. Bad day good day, don’t put your hands on kids. Period.

Me: I resigned from teaching at our middle school about two years ago. I slapped one of my students on their shoulder during a test. I was wrong. I agree with you that “bad day, good day” do not put hands on kids. Owning it does not erase that it happened. It did happen. I resigned.

Q. What are you going to do with <name>, if you get the job?

Me: Thank you for asking that question. I will answer in general terms. I do not yet know or understand the extent, if any, the position has influence over staff in elected officials’ organizations.

I believe in doing what is right and fair. I know that sounds like a deflection, and it is somewhat, I suppose.

Some questions are controversial and I don’t… and won’t… know the full answers for difficult or sensitive topics yet. Sorry for the spin. Its the best I can do right now.

Q. If you get the job , will you help bring new businesses to our town? Will you be making Improvements to our streets? Will you hold people accountable within the city?

Me: I will respond in three parts – about new business, about streets, and about accountability. The link on this post … includes my 100-day plan. That might be helpful and your critique would be welcomed.
Q. Will you help bring new businesses to our town?
Yes, I will emphasize bringing in new business. An existing department is focused on attracting new businesses and encouraging existing businesses to remain healthy. I will work with the department to understand their work in the process (of finding and attracting possibilities) and have ideas to help.
I have previously led similar groups for commercial organizations with success. Using citizen input, the expertise of the current employees, and thoughtful pros/cons will help focus the efforts. But yes, this is a key function and can help with city revenue and citizen satisfaction.

Q. Will you be making improvements to our streets?

The short answer is yes, but the longer answer has to consider several variables, and the real answer for now might be “sort of.” I will approach this through a team of people to get the most bang for the buck and be as fair as possible to all needs. (See “Connect & Flow” on the Streets Page).

I don’t know enough of the details yet to make a thoughtful response.

My current understanding is that there is a $2 million infrastructure improvement budget. I don’t know if this is intended for streets and traffic only or something broader, such as with the water system. Assuming that a lot of this budgeted amount is for streets for a city of 8,500 residents, that amount is enough to make significant improvements but not all.

Some of the variables that come into play include the severity of the need for specific streets, current local construction costs, timing, and prioritizing. These and other factors have to be considered, which I do not yet know. That’s the best answer I can give right now.

I am good at enlisting a team to help think through issues, make a solid plan, and work on the plan. There is a committee that includes citizens to think through some of this.

Will you hold people accountable within the city?
Yes. I am good at holding myself and my employees accountable. I have led hundreds of employees over the years. One of my roles included 1,200 employees across five states. I don’t yet know enough about the current state of affairs here. However, I am deeply familiar with human resources processes and accountability.
It appears to me that the city will benefit from significantly more effort on what I call “the employee life cycle.” The “life cycle” includes anticipating human resource needs, defining competencies and roles well, recruiting, screening, hiring, employee development, evaluations, discipline, market-based benefits and pay, succession planning, legal considerations, and severance (firing/retiring).
You might be referring to areas such as market-based pay, compliance with Oklahoma governmental employment statutes, and discipline.
Again, I don’t yet know enough of the details, but my take is that some Sallisaw citizens are frustrated in several of these crucial areas. The City Manager role does not oversee everything, though. Some elected officials are responsible for their own staff and teams. I will gladly collaborate with those leaders with ideas and advice.
Q. What’s the plan to cut all the FAT out of the city budget and payroll?
Me: You pose two great questions about budget and payroll.
My approach to cutting fat is to drive efficiencies without compromising services. Then resources are reallocated to where they are needed most. Historically, I have been strong at doing this. In particular, I use “business process maturity model.”
You can search “process maturity model” on Google and browse at the images. I am good at helping optimize processes that cut out fat.
About pay, the HR process needs attention in the near term. Part of that would be around pay. Defining pay bands and benchmarking pay against similar jobs is part of this. I am also experienced with this.

What are you going to do differently?

I am confident my approach to management differs from many leaders, and I don’t know what the management style of my predecessors has been. I am strong at working with teams of people to do their work well – whatever that work might be. In this instance, there is quite a diverse set of city departments.

I like to hear directly from workers “on the ground” for their ideas and delegate through their leadership. I have found that people doing the work are often the best source for finding better ways of accomplishing results.

Thank you for asking your questions. These are great questions.

Q. Can you give an example of a time you have held yourself accountable?

Me: yes. When at Key Energy Services, I had a disupute with a peer. Both of us were in senior level positions While it may seem minor, I used some rather severe foul language toward him – inappropriately so. Our SVP HR called me in.

I could have denied it, and it lost me “brownie points” for admitting to it – I did own up to it immediately. A small example. There are others examples but I’m not going to post them in this forum. Thank you for asking. 

Great answer! Except you didn’t hold yourself accountable, your Sr VP held you accountable for inappropriate behavior.

Good point. I will think through another example. I am with my grand kids right now. You can remind me later if I forget. John

Q. There is no handicap access to the soccer fields at the sports complex WHY !!! I am the commander for the new vet center here in Sallisaw 179 bed facility the biggest employer in this city I have said for the last four years that this city is not ready For this vet center to open my brothers and sisters will mostly be in scooters they will not be able to climb those hills to the soccer fields with those scooters to see maybe their grandchildren or their great grandchildren to play soccer A temporary fix would probably be ramps so that our scooters could climb them, not the grassy hills with holes all over the place . Please contact me (Clint Stidd) at 302 463 5891. I want action.
Me: I have visited the sports complex a few times. I understand your concern–the concern is valid. In addition to this specific property, there are similar issues with difficult access around the city. There are several variables I can think of that need to be considered such as whether these are addressed by a contractor or city employees; cost variations dependent which solution is selected; and others. This is an example where creating a business case will service the city well in addition to using an improved procurement process and exeptional project management. 

Q. Ward specific questions One; Two; Three; and Four.

Please note that the City Manager position is not a political position. Including a Q&A page may make this appear like a political campaign or something similar, but that is not my intention.

Sallisaw can be better. In this instance, I believe I can make a positive difference. I will let the “chips fall where they may” for this. I do hope the City gets a leader who can drive through some of the difficulties and has the support of the City’s citizenry.

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John Honeycutt, Sallisaw City Manager Applicant.