City manager Weeks reflects on first 100 days

April 12 marked the first 100 days of employment for Navasota City Manager, Jason Weeks. As for many new residents, Navasota’s small-town feel was a major attraction for Weeks and his family. That attraction was enhanced by a thriving central business district, thanks to the City’s investment in infrastructure and the private sector’s commitment to make Navasota a destination place.

With less than 10,000 residents, Navasota is unlike other towns where Weeks has worked in city government, such as his hometown of Greenville, McKinney and LaPorte, all with populations of 25,000.

According to Weeks, while they maintain a certain amount of small-town feel, “you become so minimal in that community.”

Already being recognized at the grocery store and public events, Weeks said, “It’s something I haven’t experienced before. It’s neat to come to a community where they know who I am. It’s me learning who they are.”

Weeks considers his background a little different from most city managers who’ve made a career going from city to city.

Recalling his 20-years’ experience, he said, “I worked my way up. I’ve been an assistant finance director, the finance director, a senior accountant and assistant city manager. Through that process I learned how I would want to treat employees when I came to be in the big chair. It’s not about me. It’s about the team.”

One-on-one visits with City staff are still in progress but Weeks spent the last three months endeavoring to learn their strengths, their weaknesses and their vision of the future.

He said, “Having a good staff has only made this job easier over the last three months.”

Communication, No. 1 goal!

City council has tasked Weeks with three priorities, communication with them and the community, staffing and capital improvement projects.

Shifting the focus from what will be accomplished to what has been accomplished, Weeks chose to bridge the communication gap with council through a weekly memo recapping accomplishments, activities, incidents and events which occurred the previous week from Wednesday to Wednesday. In February, department heads followed suit.

For instance, Interim Police Chief Mike Mize now provides council with crime statistics from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program detailing the number of robberies, shootings, burglaries, with monthly and yearly comparisons.

Weeks said, “Fire calls, life assists, structure and vehicle fires, those types of counts and data are important to council and me to understand workload, accomplishments and where we are with the budget, and trying to tie in any new requests for personnel.”

A key communication piece was filling the vacant marketing and communications position. Within two months, Weeks hired Bobbie Ullrich to get Navasota back on the radar of media outlets outside of the immediate area and get recognition of good things happening here.

As for the community component, Weeks said, “At some point, I want to kick off a coffee with the city manager and have townhall meetings. We’re in the process of redesigning our website to be more user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.” He continued, “We’re going to update our CTY phone callouts for water shut-offs, street closures, fire hydrant flushes. Communication is a No. 1 goal of council and a No. 1 goal of mine.”

In addition to getting to know local merchants and residents, Weeks has met with those all-important “partners” outside of City Hall such as Blinn College, Texas A&M University, Grimes County elected officials, local county commissioners, Navasota ISD, and the businesses in Navasota’s ETJ.

Right seat on the bus

During his first 100 days, Weeks made some headway on council’s staffing concerns by filling vacancies. In addition to Ullrich, Weeks hired budget analyst, Matt Bowen, promoted Jennifer Reyna from Interim to Utilities Director and created a grant writer position which he filled with accounts payable clerk Kay Peavy who had grant writing experience. Weeks revised the organizational chart somewhat but his focus is to “not only make sure everyone is on the bus but they’re in the right seat.”

According to Weeks, exit interviews indicate compensation is a “huge” item, and the No. 1 internal challenge, particularly where public safety is concerned.

While he’s in the process of seeking a vendor for a compensation study, Weeks acknowledges that the public sector will never pay as much as the private sector.

He said, “What we can provide is a great retirement and other benefits the private sector is no longer doing but it still doesn’t pay the bills. My goal is to get our employees paid fairly to stop the bleed of them going to other communities.”

Capital improvements, growth

Council and residents alike are anxious for Capital Improvement Projects to move forward and Weeks was successful in negotiating some changes which minimized the impact on local businesses, residents and tourists. Those included postponing infrastructure work on Railroad Street until after Texas Birthday Bash and arranging for crosswalk construction to occur at night.

Weeks cautions that growth will happen “whether we like it or not so we need to start preparing for it.” This translates to a budget planning process “more in-depth that the departments are used to,” and a five-year projection.

Weeks is thankful for the support he’s received but added that he’s here to listen to the citizens.

He said, “One thing I’ve learned is that people don’t always want you to find solutions for them but they do expect you to listen to them, to hear them out and understand them. I work for them and at the pleasure of the council. I want the best for this community.”

An accountant by nature, Weeks doesn’t make decision lightly.

He said, “I’m not here to make a lot of changes but sometimes change does happen, change is necessary…I will make a decision. I want to move Navasota forward and I’m looking forward to that journey.”