Account of a Rotary Club of Gwinnett Daybreak meeting with Jim Brooks as Speaker

Jim Brooks' visit to Rotary Club of Gwinnett Daybreak – 12/11/07

By Guest Blogger: Scott Henle
(Scott was a Past President of the Snellville Rotary Club/Rotary Club of Gwinnett Daybreak, and is the current Club Administration Chair)

Mr. Jim Brooks, Interim City Manager of Snellville, was the guest speaker for the Rotary Club of Gwinnett Daybreak (formerly Snellville Rotary Club) this last Tuesday morning. He was an excellent speaker, who seemed very comfortable in the spotlight. After listening to him for a few minutes, you realized that he has a wealth of experience in the public service sector. He mentioned his work with local law enforcement and state agencies, along with the FBI and other government agencies. After listening to him, I really have no idea how little ol’ Snellville snagged him for this latest tour of duty.

Within his first few phrases, you realized that this man has a great sense of humor, and one who is not afraid to poke fun at himself. He shared quite a few anecdotes with us from several of his past encounters.

Brooks, describes himself as the consummate business man and a facilitator for change. This was evidenced after sharing with us what he does on the side…he owns 28 rental properties in the Macon area. I can only imagine what goes into the upkeep for that!

He is a strong believer in a proactive government, which he described as using planning as a means to an end, rather than just the end. He paraphrased his style with…cities need to make use of what they have and know how to maximize those assets...he does not manage people, but rather the resources, and leads the people. For example, improving our city website (www.snellville.org) was one of his first steps. He mentioned that he gathered the department heads together to learn about current projects in the city…unfortunately nobody knew how many were active. So utilizing the current city software available, he compiled the list from each department and was able to build Department Projects List. Which includes 22 projects from the Administrative Department, 2 for the Parks, 15 from Planning & Development, 7 for the Police Department, and 6 from Public Works for a total of 52 open projects! (By the way all this information with detail is available on the website.)

Brooks feels his largest impact has been with the administrative staff of our city. He really likes Snellville’s current staff and mentioned they are obviously talented as they are starting to be lured away by other cities.

After I tried to pin him down and ask him how Snellville compares to other municipalities he has worked with, he laughed and mentioned that he was not going to fall into that trap. He stated that it is hard to compare cities, as everyplace has a different set of values and needs. He did mention a few challenges he sees for Snellville in the near future though:

• Hiring new city manager. Still estimated the hire as 2-3 months out, but mentioned the candidate will need to give a 3-5 year commitment to Snellville to see any real progress.

• Improving infrastructure. Estimated that there is probably $7M worth of ‘fair-price’ improvements that should be made within the city limits.

• New revenue stream. Currently 28% of the funding for city operations comes from property taxes (and he mentioned that ALL citizens should know this fact). With the proposal of HR900 before the House calling for the abolishment of ad valorem and local taxes, this would exhaust that source. Meaning the funding will have to come from somewhere else.

• Mayor & city council relationship. He stated the obvious fact that any of us here who have witnessed any local politics already know! They really just need to get along, remember who they work for, and why they hold their positions…he actually did not say that last piece, those were my own thoughts.

Brooks mentioned that he is under contract through February 13^th, but may be available for further consultation if needed. As you may know, the council is currently split on his position. I believe council members Robert Jenkins, Warren Auld, and Kelly Kautz may want to hire him, while Barb Bender, Tod Warren, and Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer want to continue the search for a replacement. I assume someone has asked him, but I do not think he wants the position. He mentioned that he was hired as INTERIM City Manager and believes that he should be here just to assist through the transition. His feelings also are if the vote was not unanimous among the elected officials, he would not want to stay…and frankly, I do not blame him. He gave me the impression he is a successful man that was hired to do a job and now after accomplishing that feat he is ready to move on. By all accounts, from what I have read (on this blog), I think by slashing our budget alone he was worth whatever we paid him.

When asked what he thinks we could do for this city, he declared that any changes here will probably need to come from the citizens. We need to get 4 to 7 movers and shakers in the community, making sure not to get more than 8; because the 8^th one will be an idiot (he said he found this out through experience, as we all chuckled). Get these people together to create a summit and give input on crucial matters. A ground swell will need to start from the citizens and once it gets large enough the government will join in and follow.

It was a pleasure to listen to Mr. Brooks, and although I have not seen him in action, I have to believe that Snellville is better off for the time he spent here. I am sure his business-like leadership, fresh perspective and new insights may have been a shock, but were much needed.

As I mentioned, speakers like Mr. Brooks come visit the Rotary Club of Gwinnett Daybreak every week. I would like to invite anyone interested in learning more about Rotary to visit our website. Here you will also be able to keep abreast of any upcoming speakers we have lined up. We meet every Tuesday morning at 7:30 for a delicious breakfast at Summit Chase Country Club.