New city manager doesn't fear tough decisions

Fifteen or 20 years ago, Jane Howington wouldn't have been ready for the top appointed job in Kalispell city government.

She hadn't yet gone through serious municipal budget cutting, hadn't negotiated contentious contracts with police and firemen, hadn't carried out planning in a city larger than 10,000 people.

Today Howington says she is not only prepared to become Kalispell's new city manager, she's eager to take on the challenges presented by the city in the Rocky Mountain West that captured her attention so many years ago.

"I'm very impressed by the department heads that are there, the leadership that is there," she said from her home in Dayton, Ohio, recently.

She's been in daily contact with Kalispell and state government officials for a couple weeks now, getting herself up to speed on local issues. But as of Aug. 4 that contact will be face-to-face.

Howington knows she's walking into a vacancy left when the council fired the last city manager and a climate of budget-slashing, contention over her $112,500 salary plus $5,000 annual retirement contributions, and a potentially reshaped council and new mayor after the November elections.

But she's not the type to shy away from a tough job.

"If you're going to be a good city manager, you're not afraid to make good decisions," she said. "You will be unpopular with some people. But if you're making good decisions, the council will understand you're making them for good reasons."

She knows council membership turns over, with new members sometimes looking to oust current managers.

"People will sometimes look at the city manager as the change agent," she said. But "if you wanted security, you shouldn't hire me - I'm not going to sit in a corner. As a city manager you have to be prepared maybe not to have a long tenure É I'm not a bull in a china shop (who will) come in and knock heads up one side and down the other, but on the other hand I'm not going to sit by" and let problems fester for fear of taking some heat.

What she does plan to do is get the lay of the land, keep learning the issues, see what other locals suggest for solutions, then work out the most plausible solutions.

Those will have to start with the city budget and its anemic $130,000 in general-fund cash reserves.

"If somebody thinks I'm going to come in and pull out of my carpetbag $100,000 or $1 million for the reserve fund, that's not going to happen," she said. "It will have to be slow and steady, but in some cases you can't do slow and steady."

That illustrates a paradox about city government that Howington seems to get - deliberation needs to mix with decisiveness under deadline.

She expects to examine city operations, and see whether things could be consolidated, "maybe look at some of those for a quick fix. But I can't say there's a solution."

She has started working with Interim City Manager Myrt Webb on potential uses for stimulus money. It is not a panacea, she said, but could help for a year or two to reduce capital costs.

Howington put problem solving to the test in Dayton, where as assistant city manager for operations she is in charge of fire, police, recreation and youth services, water, and human resources. The city dropped more than a third of its population over the past decade, 'so we have a city government here structured to support 260,000 but the tax base to support 160,000."

It was her job to ferret out ways to boost efficiency but guard public safety - perhaps eliminate police transcription and rely on in-car reporting, possibly flatten the organization's ranks without compromising service, maybe privatize emergency services or consolidate dispatch.

Those decisions stirred up a hornet's nest with the unions, which launched the city into restraining orders and allegations of unfair hiring practices.

"We still have a declining budget; we're still going through it now," she said. "The point is not to just slash and burn, but the point is to make some kind of educated decision.

"It's important to have good relations with the unions if you can, but you can't sacrifice the safety of the city for that," she said. "You need to try as much as you can to get unions to be partners, but the city manager has the responsibility to the city and the city council to implement their directives."

There's no one-size-fits-all solution that can be transported from Dayton to Kalispell.

"Some people want you to name what you're going to do when you get here, name the top three things," Howington said.

"I'm not going to do that because I'm not a traveling salesman" who pulls out of her bag answers that worked in the last town. She needs to learn about Kalispell and its people first, she said.

"Every community is unique in their needs and solutions. If the council were to remain the same it would be easier to develop their strategic action plan," she said. But it will take time as she acts as a facilitator to "help them build some sort of consensus and their priorities as time goes on. In a way I have an advantage of coming in new. Although this current council hired me, I have not worked with them."

She expects it will take hard work to earn her salary. But she feels she also brings a lot to the table.

"If you look at my experience and my number of years in the public sector, I think that brings a level of knowledge, especially going through changes," she said. As Dayton loses population it also is making a transition from an industrial to an information technology center, taking a lot of tough decision making and creative thinking.

Howington started as town administrator for Lunenburg, Mass.; became planning director for Acton, Mass., and then Oxford, Ohio; stepped up to Oxford's city manager post from 2000 to 2007 and took on Dayton's operations in June 2007.

She feels each move filled in a gap - she helped cities create a vision for their futures, then learned finance and budgeting, and finally took on public operations and services.

"I feel I have a very well-rounded expertise in coming to a community," she said.

Despite protests over her salary - which is on a par with major cities in Montana but higher than similar-size towns and higher even than the governor's salary - she makes the case for another look.

"Sometimes the value of a city manager is not to know everything about everything, but to know where to go to get the expertise you need at that time," Howington said.

"There's nothing I can do or say to put all the people at ease. But give me a chance to come into the community and work with you to build partnerships we need to build," she said.

"I'm kind of laying myself open to the city. I'm bringing these years and years of experience to the city. So give it an opportunity, kick the tires for a while and take it out for a spin. But don't kick me out before you try."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com