|
Lifetime Achievement Award--Lou Fox
Edwin O. Stene Award for Managerial Excellence--John Nachbar
Intern Excellence Award--Katie Daniel
Profile in Courage Award--Tansy Hayward
LOUIS J. FOX, GRADUATING CLASS OF 1967
It is an honor and a privilege to nominate Mr. Louis J. Fox for the 2003 KUCIMAT Lifetime Achievement Award. Lou’s successful, 38-year career in local government management epitomizes the philosophy and values of the Edwin O. Stene Program in Public Administration and is deserving of this recognition. His local government work represents a true dedication to public service and a proven commitment to advancing the public good in America’s cities. His influence has been far reaching and will be carried on by the next generation of managers.
I met Lou Fox in 1982 when I was a prospective student interested in gaining admittance to the KU program. He was the City Manager of San Antonio, Texas at the time and was busy facing the challenges of a major city in America. Yet he took the time to welcome me into his office, the KU program and the city management profession. He has been a good and faithful friend and mentor to me and a cadre of other local government managers for the past 20 years.
Lou Fox was born in St. Louis, Missouri in September 1943. He is the second of five children. He graduated from St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis and entered St. Louis Preparatory Seminary where he began theological studies in pursuit of the priesthood. This theological training had a big influence on Lou. To date, he still views public service as a vocation for improving the lives of his fellow human beings and for promoting economic and social justice.
Lou ultimately realized that the Church was not his calling and left the seminary. He enrolled at Harris Teacher’s College in St. Louis and earned an Associate of Arts degree in 1963. Two years later, in 1965, he graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He then attended the University of Kansas and graduated with a Masters of Public Administration in 1967.
It was during his studies at the University of Kansas that Lou received his first local government position as Administrative Analyst for the City of Wichita Kansas. He served in this capacity for 18 months, from June 1966 to December 1967. His responsibilities included preparing administrative reports and the annual budget for the city.
The Vietnam War prompted Lou to join the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967. He was shipped to the Marine Depot in San Diego, California and attended basic training at Camp Pendleton. Even as a serviceman, Lou had mixed feelings about the Vietnam War. However he understood that military service was necessary and performed his duties well. He was on active duty for one year and received his Honorable Discharge in January 1970.
Lou then joined the U.S. Army Reserve, Medical Service Corp. and applied for
an officers’ commission. Ironically, the Army rejected his commission
because they had erroneously listed his residency while at KU as 1226 Ohio,
the home of the Students for A Democratic Society – the antiwar protestors.
Lou in fact had resided next door at 1224 Ohio and currently claims not having
been involved in any subversive activities while at KU. Eventually he received
his commission as First Lieutenant and was honorably discharged from the Army
Reserve in 1975.
Lou’s second local government job was as Assistant City Manager of Overland
Park, Kansas. He served Overland Park for more than four years, from August
1968 to October 1972. His duties included being Budget Officer for the city.
He also prepared federal grants and administered federally funded programs
such as Manpower. In addition, he worked with City Council committees and handled
the city’s legislative programs.
After four years, Lou made the trek to Texas when he landed his first city manager position with the City of Orange, Texas. Lou was challenged to make dramatic changes from the start. Being a southern town, Orange had a history of segregation. Even city services were delivered in a manner that perpetuated that segregation. Black police officers patrolled the black neighborhoods and white officers patrolled the white area without intermingling their beats. Lou immediately realized that this system had to change and that city employees needed to serve all citizens equally regardless of race or color. While he intellectually knew that this method of policing prevented racial conflicts, he knew that it perpetuated a system of racial separation that needed to be changed. He also understood that he had morale obligation to change it.
Lou knew that his actions would be controversial and potentially career threatening, yet he had faith in his convictions and worked with the Anglo and African-American communities and its leaders to make the necessary changes that improved police services and bridged the racial gap.
Lou’s success in Orange led to his appointment as Deputy City Manager for the City of San Antonio, Texas. Little did he know that this job would lead to a 13-year career in the Alamo City. As Deputy City Manager Lou was responsible for managing multiple city departments including Police, Public Works, Airport and Human Resources. He oversaw the supervision of over 5,000 city employees and a budget of $150 million.
Lou also helped lead the city’s 1978 and 1980 Bond Steering Committees. He helped create a city-county consolidated tax appraisal office to eliminate duplication of effort and avoid tax discrepancies among the multiple taxing jurisdictions. He also spearheaded the sale of the city’s mass-transit system to the current San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority –VIA.
In February 1982, Lou took over the helm as City Manager of San Antonio and together with Mayor Henry Cisneros the legendary team guided the metamorphosis of San Antonio from a quiet military town to an economic powerhouse and tourist destination. Their plan was simple -- identify the city’s assets and capitalize on them.
Downtown San Antonio and the Riverwalk underwent major redevelopment. This included reconstructing the river walk and extending it to a newly built retail center, the now famous Rivercenter Mall that includes a Marriott Hotel. The San Antonio Convention Center also was doubled in space. The Airport was given a new terminal and parking structure, and the downtown received a much-needed facelift. All of these improvements were instrumental in making conventions and tourism a multi-billion dollar industry for the city. Lou’s work made San Antonio one of the most desirable convention sites in the U.S.
Lou’s vision and ability to work, as a team with Mayor Cisneros and the City Council was the key to San Antonio’s success during this period of unprecedented growth and prosperity. He was selfless in his efforts and supportive of the elected officials. He always allowed them to take the lead and the credit for the success of his administration. Though Councilmembers may have had opinions different from Lou’s, they all respected his ideas and worked to make them succeed.
As San Antonio’s city manager, Lou worked to constantly improve his management team. He sought out and recognized talent at all levels of the city organization. He was quick to mobilize the efforts of intelligent and energetic employees and never allowed hierarchical structures to hinder their accomplishments. I know this personally because he gave me opportunities to showcase my work even though I had just begun my career as an Analyst.
After his successful tenure in San Antonio, Lou was appointed Chairperson of the Urban Administration Department at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He held this influential position for eight years, from June 1990 to June 1998. The Urban Administration program is one of four graduate degrees offered at Trinity University. The program was founded in 1968 and has produced over 400 graduates who have earned Masters in Public Administration. Lou modeled the Trinity University MPA program after the KU program and was instrumental in evaluating and updating the program’s curriculum to reflect public management fundamentals as well as current issues and practices in the profession.
In addition, he helped diversify the pool of students by actively recruiting qualified women and minorities for the Trinity program. Many have gone on to become city managers, assistant city managers and private sector executives thanks to the efforts of Lou Fox.
Education has been a cornerstone of Lou’s career. He has continuously developed his professional skills and abilities through active participation in professional associations. He has been a member of ICMA since 1968 and served as the Mountain Plains Regional Vice-President from 1987 to 1989. He also was active in the Texas City Management Association and served as Vice-President and President. In 1987, he successfully completed the State and Local Government Executive Institute at Harvard University.
Lou is currently the owner of Urban Advisory Services, a local government consulting firm. The San Antonio-based company offers an array of services to municipalities, non-profits and private businesses that include strategic planning, executive recruitments and organization development.
Lou is married to the lovely and talented Kye Kilpatrick Fox and has a daughter, Sarah Beth Fox and a son, Matthew Koehler.
In my most recent conversation with Lou, I asked what kept him going during thick and thin. He gave his usual pause, smiled and said, “Never look back at bad experiences. Just keep moving on.” Sure enough Lou follows his own advice and keeps on moving. Chances are he will keep on moving for life. The best the rest of us can hope for is to have half his energy, wit and enthusiasm for life.
In my humble opinion, Lou is one of the best that the KU program has produced and nothing would be more appropriate than to formally recognize his contributions through this award. I ask that the review committee endorse my nomination and bestow this honor upon Lou Fox.
The following KUCIMATS and even non-Jayhawk fans from the City of Overland Park City Manager’s Office and departmental KUCIMATS respectfully nominate John Nachbar, City Manager of the City of Overland Park for the Edwin O. Stene Managerial Excellence Award.
John Nachbar is an exceptional and courageous leader for the City of Overland Park, where he has served as City Manager since the Year 2000. He has accomplished several key objectives during his brief tenure, making him an excellent candidate for the Edwin O. Stene Managerial Excellence Award. His achievements include the following:
City Vision, Mission, Values and Leadership Model
John Nachbar has nurtured the development of a high performing executive leadership team, which includes department directors and City Manager’s Office staff. This reenergized group has created a new City vision, mission, values, and associated leadership model, focusing the City of Overland Park to embrace change and continuously strive to improve customer service (see attached). He initiated a customized “Leadership Development Forum” for employees to indoctrinate the workforce with these ideals and energize employees to change the organization’s culture.
Performance Measurements/ Performance Management
John Nachbar led the creation of a practical and comprehensive performance measurement system that will improve organizational accountability. He further created a new performance management, pay-for-performance system, with components for executive, supervisory, and employee levels, to measure and reward both technical knowledge and behaviors, linking the vision, mission, values and leadership model to individual performance assessment.
Proactive Budgetary Decision-Making
John Nachbar has led the City with proactive budgetary decisions that have positioned the City well to respond to economic uncertainty. Bond rating agencies recently cited the City’s proactive management to balance competing internal and external demands as one of the main reasons the AAA rating was retained. Rather than pursue across-the-board budget cuts during tough economic times, John Nachbar led the Executive Leadership Team through a process that evaluated service delivery citywide, resulting in ongoing budget reductions of approximately $5 million per year, including the elimination of approximately 50 full-time equivalent positions, without negatively impacting services.
Focus on Public Safety Technology and Institutional Fiber Network (I-Net)
John Nachbar has remained focused on technology, promoting the police department’s mobile data terminal project and strategic deployment initiatives. Strategic deployment is a leading-edge method of dispatching police responders based on the precise physical location of each vehicle versus dispatching from traditional district boundaries. He led the installation of a fiber-optic cable network, linking city facilities with city owned infrastructure needed for broadband services. This is a major component in a traffic signalization project that will ultimately provide real time data for enhanced traffic management and improved public safety.
Overland Park Convention Center and Hotel
The Overland Park Convention Center and Hotel were opened on time and within budget in 2002 after over 15 years of planning. John Nachbar’s primary role was creating the successful financing packages for these projects without which these projects would not have been possible. This high quality, high tech complex includes 60,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, over 35,000 sq. ft. of combined meeting space, 25,000 sq. ft. of ballroom space, and an adjoining 412-room Sheraton Hotel. The magnitude of the complex is anticipated to have a significant economic impact.
Fire Department Merger
The City is merging with the Overland Park Fire Department, Inc., a private, non-profit corporation. When John Nachbar was an Assistant City Manager for the City of Overland Park in the mid-1980’s, he recommended a merger between the City and OPFD, Inc. This merger will finally take place under his leadership on September 1, 2003.
Gaining Voter Support for Sales Tax Extension
The 1/8-cent sales tax was renewed for an additional five years for residential streets and thoroughfares with 71.5% voter approval, a testament to the citizen’s trust in local government to spend their tax dollars wisely.
Conclusion
All of these accomplishments occurred with very little fanfare. John Nachbar’s leadership style is to just do things rather than announce them. Instead of creating a nice, catchy name for his initiatives, he simply started making subtle changes that ultimately created a collective powerhouse of positive change. This has been accomplished and continues at a pace and rate that the City workforce and elected officials can sustain. These changes would not have taken place without John’s courage to do the right thing during times when it would have been easier to take the path of least resistance.
John Nachbar, like Edwin O. Stene, does not thrive on public accolades. He prefers working quietly behind the scenes, charting the course and adjusting the sails, but his immense influence on this organization should not be overlooked. Without his leadership, none of the accomplishments listed above would have been achieved, particularly in such a short timeframe, with such little resistance and with such positive results.
Katie Daniel
It is a true pleasure to nominate Katie Daniel for the KUCIMAT Intern Excellence Award for 2003. Katie has personified the genuine meaning of City Management in the way she has approached and conducted herself in her job as Management Assistant for the City of Sedona. During the past year, Katie has incorporated herself well into Sedona’s management team and has become a significant team member on several projects that have accomplished City Council objectives and have made a significant difference in the quality of life for the residents and businesses of our community.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few key accomplishments that Katie played a major role in assisting the City Council, Department Directors and the City Manager.
In addition to some of the key projects mentioned, Katie has also had other key responsibilities such as being the responsible staff member for all quarterly written and oral presentations to the City’s Audit/Finance Committee, handling the Mayor’s correspondence, staffing the City Council committee to review the Chamber of Commerce funding and contract and reviewing Council Communications for approximately 3 months.
Finally, due to Katie’s abilities and critical judgments on significant projects in her first year such as the ones mentioned, Katie has gained the respect of Department Directors, the City Council and the City Manager. Based on her accomplishments and effectiveness, she has taken on the operational responsibilities of being the City Manager’s representative on public information efforts, finance & budget issues, the information technology issues and human resources issues that have a financial impact, and has become a well trusted team member of the local city government of Sedona.
I believe that one of the most valuable things about our profession is the fact that we can have a positive impact on the community’s quality of life. Over the last year Katie has done exactly that for Sedona.
Eric Levitt
City Manager
City of Sedona
Tansy Hayward
It is a privilege to nominate Tansy Hayward for the KUCIMAT Profile in Courage Award. Tansy is a Management Assistant in my office and graduated from the University of Kansas MPA program in April 2003.
I first got to know Tansy after she agreed to become a member of my staff in June 2002, serving as a Management Intern. The quality of professionals that KU produces is well exemplified by her extraordinary work. While Tansy’s performance as a Management Intern merits the KUCIMAT Intern Excellence Award, it is the personal circumstances and obstacles she has overcome during her year here in Des Moines that warrant recognition and your Profile in Courage Award.
Diagnosis
On a weekend in October of last year, Tansy had a “grand mal” seizure.
Fortunately at the time, she was with her husband Chris and was not seriously
hurt, but they did not know what was wrong with her. She had never had a seizure
before. Tests were performed and she was diagnosed with epilepsy. Epilepsy
is a condition of recurrent seizures, even under normal environmental conditions,
brought about by an abnormal electrical discharge of brain cells. Needless
to say, when one is diagnosed with epilepsy, one’s life changes.
Life Changes and Difficult Questions
Tansy’s life did change. She could no longer drive to work; she required
medications to suppress seizures; and she had a new and frightening set of
questions in her life: “would she have more seizures?,” “how
bad were they going to get?,” and “was she even going to be able
to have children with her diagnosis?” The last question was Tansy’s
biggest concern because she discovered that epilepsy further increases the
risks of pregnancy as a woman gets older. She not only struggled with the professional
issues her disease creates but also with the personal concerns of having children
and the impact that decision would have on her career.
Defining Moments
The defining moment for Tansy did not come when she was diagnosed. Instead,
it arrived when she made the decision that she was not going to let epilepsy
run her life or define who she was. Having decided, Tansy proactively sought
out information on epilepsy. She was open and told coworkers in the office
about her conditions. In addition to instructing us on what to do in the
case of a seizure, she helped us deal with the unexpected realities of epilepsy.
Through all of this, she never faltered in her work. As stated earlier, Tansy
also was forced to forgo driving for six months. When most people would have
been irritated by such an inconvenience, Tansy simply took it in stride.
As for having children, Tansy and Chris weighed all the risk and decided
to go ahead while time was still on their side. It was a move in which she
had to balance the goals of her family life as well as her career. She became
pregnant in November 2002.
Impressions
Tansy’s courageous behavior through this diagnosis has left all of us
with a greater appreciation of how character and attitude can largely shape
our lives. She took these issues head-on and faced up to the challenges they
created by proactively dealing with the situation, demonstrating great personal
courage and character in the face of adversity.
What is equally impressive of Tansy is her performance at work before and since her diagnosis. Interns in Des Moines are placed in the City Manager’s Office, and they are an integral part of the city manager’s staff. As a member of the City’s Senior Leadership Team they are given responsible tasks with major service delivery implications, including: providing support to myself and council members; working collaboratively with department directors on projects and issues; acting as a City Manager’s Office liaison to department staff meetings; sitting on advisory boards; project managing; and, providing responses to citizen concerns and issues. In supportive roles like this, Tansy has demonstrated a keen ability to understand the issues before her and has performed with the utmost professionalism and quality. She is already on her way in becoming a skillful professional in city management.
Final Thoughts
We frequently speak of the high ideals of our profession (integrity, efficiency,
effectiveness, and character), but some virtues, like “courage,” are
occasionally less acknowledged. Tansy, however, is a testament to those virtues.
In April after her graduation, she was promoted to a Management Assistant
position in my office; on July 18, 2003, she gave birth to twin girls, Lily
and Madison; and to this date, she has had no recurrences of seizures. She
is living a healthy, happy, and sometimes twin stressful life. Her example
of courage, character, and work ethic is one I admire and deserves consideration
for the KUCIMAT Profile in Courage Award.
Eric Anderson, City Manager
Des Moines, IA
|
Department of Public Administration 1445 Jayhawk Blvd., 4060 Wescoe Hall Lawrence, KS 66045-3177 Phone: (785) 864-3527 FAX: (785) 864-5208 |
Photos © The University of Kansas Office of University Relations. This file was modified 11/16/06 09:53:03 AM |
Email Page
Print Page