 Thanks to everybody for joining us today. I'm Abby block. I'm the grant coordinator here at the city started in the nonprofit sector and Made the conversion about a year ago I'm here today with the new mayor Ryan Sorenson and our city administrator Todd Wolf and I'm gonna let them introduce themselves Thanks, Abby for having us today. Like Abby said, my name is Ryan Sorenson. I'm the new mayor It's gonna be a month tomorrow and before that I was on the city council for four years and served as the council president last year as well I'm Todd Wolf. I've been the city administrator since July of last year And I was a council president for four years before that and then older That's a little bit of my background other than I worked in the private sector and ran companies Well, I guess to start out with I'm gonna actually start with a submitted question That asks a little bit about what you do here at the city the differences between you and your inner roles When and how you work together and who people should invite if they're having like a ribbon cutting or some type of ceremony if it should be one or both of you and Who the kind of point of contact should be so that's like 10 questions in one, but Well, no, that's a good question I think we get it get it kind of often about oh, you know, why is there a mayor and a city administrator? What you know, what do you do who does what sort of thing and we're still I would say relatively in the infancy of Of it Todd's the third city administrator. I believe and I'm the 59th mayor So it's it's still kind of a new concept But Todd and I think have a great working relationship in terms of how we're kind of meeting the goals and tasks of the city You know Todd and I kind of you know sat down kind of on the onset of my transition kind of talked about You know, okay, what's what's kind of the wheelhouse to we all play in essentially and you know It's it's kind of like a CEO role COO sort of role and my primary focus is on a lot of external relation External relationship public relations sort of components of the function of the mayor and the mayor oversees the government type of entities chairs the council meetings Contacts federal and state state agencies as well But there's a lot of partnership that that Todd and I do in our roles as well And it's been going good, you know, we're in touch every single day What we're in the office talking about different priorities and different projects that we're working on we both bring different different skill sets to to to the city hall, which is which is really beneficial for for for all of us so For ribbon cuttings, I guess invite us both. They're fun We're you know, it's more of the Marriard. Yeah, we as a city administrator and even prior when Ryan and I were Council presidents, you know, we tended the ribbon cuttings and and events to represent the city That's the biggest thing is we need to be the voice for the city You know, if the mayor can't make it and obviously I would be there and vice versa But we do have a great collaboration and communication together. I think we bring a lot of energy to the city Obviously with my background, I look at the city as a business as I've said we are really making some great strides in efficiencies and improvements and processes and separations and again, we're we're taking the city to a new level and We're bringing, you know business into it and what I mean by business is running it like as if it's for profit You know, we we have to be good stewards and we need to grow our city And there's so many deficiencies that we need to work with our constituents to to really put some resources to it So together we're gonna really increase that communication between the the our citizens and the city and and focus the right energy in the right direction Yeah, I think, you know, we're called nonprofits in the nonprofit sector. I think it's a similar Having that concept of no, you really do have to earn enough revenue to pay your bills and do all these things Same for the city Okay, so you both said you're relatively new in your roles Can you talk a little bit about coming into city hall with fresh eyes and some of the things that you've found that were maybe surprising or Weren't at all like you thought they would be All right, I'll take down first since I have the seniority in this right here For me it was it was very eye-opening as a past council president I thought and I believed at the time that I had a lot of interaction with the city and Operations and the day-to-day, but I realized that I didn't and coming in Especially with my my business and operations background I really started to see a lot of things that it's not that they weren't functioning. They were getting by and The thing is when you're in municipality and this is what I've learned from other Municipalities and different groups that I'm now part of is that municipalities don't tend to look outside other than to other Municipalities, so if you're following the person in front of you, you are following the person in front of you You're not ever looking around them and seeing what's coming or or taking a different path Being that I've come from different industries different Operations, whether it was union non-union Privately owned corporately owned. There's a lot of different opportunities and how you operate for efficiencies and Effectiveness and and just being cost-aware in the in the city we have budgets that are Year-over-year They didn't have to fight like in the nonprofit world where you fight for every you know every week to week or month to month You can go and you can do fundraising the city can't really do fundraising It's kind of frowned upon because we tax you right so we really need to be the best stewards of the money that we get and Really expand on it. So when I came in I started to you know, I call it ABCs and one two three I could see a lot of deficiencies very quickly and lack of separation. We have great people within our city We have great staff It's it's really just because of the what I'm going to say lack of leadership for decades You know when you're in a mayoral council You go from mayor to mayor and if the mayor isn't really focused on the inner working He's focused on the outer working That's one one of the reasons why we went to a city administrator to actually have somebody that can really Make the clock tell time on accurately if that's a good way to say it Yeah, no, I think Todd had hit on a lot of great points there Me, you know, like I said, it's a month tomorrow that I'll be kind of in my role And it's it's been very eye-opening in a new experience You know, especially like what Todd said being on the council for four years. You try to be as involved as you can But it's a totally different ballgame when you're working in City Hall full-time Just kind of knowing the staff The department heads and how everyone operates And I think we do have a lot of good staff here that put in a lot of great effort to To make our community better place I think, you know, everyone who works at City Hall or the fire department or police department Whatever city department it is has a public service. I think that that's that's fundamentally important and we all recognize that as well You know, I'm a millennial obviously and the youngest mayor Under cities history. So I definitely have a different perspective in my my approach in terms of how I view my role You know, I'm taking a look at for example, how we structure committees, you know Making sure that everything is functioning and serving a purpose And not doing things how we've always done it necessarily and I think that's something Todd and I definitely are on the same page on Is making sure we're asking questions taking a new fresh look, you know questioning Oh, why have we always done it this way? You know, is there a new new and improved way that we can do it? Is there a new innovative way that we can, you know, be more cost efficient on something? So Yeah, so I think that that's kind of been my set of so far in terms of how we're looking at things and how we're taking a new approach So I know that you've touched on it a little bit Todd But can you talk a little bit about the road to the Office here and now so what your background is and how you came to be mayor or city administrator So it was a cold February morning in 1994 I won't go that far So I was born and raised in Sheboygan Graduated from South High School I went up to College at UW Milwaukee, served in student government there I was the student body president my junior year and then my senior year I became chair of UW System Student Presentatives, which is the state association for student government and did a lot of awesome policy and advocacy In Madison and Washington, DC working with state legislators And government officials and bureaucrats just about how we can advocate and advance College accessibility and college affordability. So so that was an awesome experience I got to travel all over Wisconsin and all over the country visiting a lot of different peers And advancing higher education then I graduated college came back home And then I was like, well, I want to do my adult, you know, what's what's my adult extracurricular gonna be and I was like Well, student government real government that that seems like a seamless transition, right? So I ran for city council. I'd be the tenure incumbent When I ran for city council the first time served in the city council for four years worked in the nonprofit sector for my day job as a community Engagement coordinator and so, you know, so first hand just, you know The operations of a nonprofit and what they can do and all sorts of fun things like that And you see see differently how nonprofits collaborate. We work together through different organizations different networks As well. So then 2020 happened. We had this COVID pandemic Todd became the council or the city administrator Then I became council president and kind of during my time as council president I made it a goal of mine to meet with as many community leaders as I could Non-profit folks business owners just checking in. Hey, what's working? What's not? How can I be a resource for you? How can we work together? And I think there was a common theme That I've heard that, you know, hey, you know, should we get is a great community. We love it here There's a reason why we start businesses here. This is why we raise our families here and you know, there were just some things that people thought could be a little done done differently and kind of Kind of some change. So with some encouragement, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and Here we are today. So that's kind of my short synopsis of how I landed here Well, I don't know if I can beat that I do have a couple of years on you though. So I guess my story could be a little bit longer I consider myself the Cinderella story when it comes to the management side I literally came from the floor and worked my way up to you know, low management middle management upper management to executive management and as I said, I've worked in family owned locally and corporate outside the state, of course Where I was an older and I left for a bit and came back to the city, you know, unfortunately or fortunately my family never moved That's why I came back and right before the city of Taking this position. I actually worked for another local family owned company in in Sheboygan Falls And I traveled all over the United States all over the world. So I can actually say as a past older I've actually called in for counsel from Switzerland, Germany Mexico City It's quite interesting sitting in the in a meeting at two in the morning for counsel But the the interesting part of it is really that the fact is when I first got involved I was actually asked by a past past mayor because of my business background my operations background He had asked me and said hey, we really could use use you on some of our committees and that's really good started it and as a as a citizen Like any citizen we we don't like paying taxes, right and we complain about the city I mean if we're if we're not agreeing with what I'm saying then we're really not listening But a lot of times we can we're concerned about why do we pay taxes? Where does my money go and we're either part of the problem meaning we complain about it Or we're part of the solution where we get involved with it find out help it fix it move on And that's really what ended up being my passion was getting involved Finding that my skill set was needed within the city within the committees And I've been on committee since 2011 and then I got into running for alder I believe my first time running was actually filling up an open position and back then we had two alders per district And you know 16 alder so as I continued through this journey It's it was more of the fact that we really need somebody that has Operations and business background to really help as I called it before you know setting the setting the clock fixing it you know cleaning it making sure that we're on schedule on time efficiently and We're a large company and I keep referencing it as a company because we really are and we should look at it This way because we should be the gold standard of operations. We should be the employer of choice. We have over 450 employees We have four union contracts. We have 118 million dollar budget That's a big company in any stand when you think about it And we can easily be over 500 employees during depending on the season or voting or whatever So we have so many what I call islands because we have different cultures. We have different operations We have different, you know, you know contracts and things like that, but we were all one team. We're all one company overall Having said that when my predecessor gave his letter of retirement to me. I was like, oh boy This is going to be interesting and we interviewed. I can't say we The mayor was part of it. I actually abstained from it because I Was asked by multiple people if I would consider running for the city administrator because of my background and Because I have a passion for the city and I really do like challenges and I thought this would be an opportunity so there were 26 candidates and it went from 26 and whittled down to two and then I Considered myself very fortunate to be a city servant and I was chosen so Again as the mayor had said before one of the one of the mattress that I say is changes coming But if you see something say something If we're doing it the same way we did it a year ago or five years ago. We're broken something's wrong We've implemented a lot of technology We're implementing a lot of policies and procedures and changes and we're doing it to work smarter not harder So I know it's cliche, but we really are doing it every day When I think that's a sentiment a lot of the viewers will have as well, you know having those things in place like your board policies and not always the most thrilling conversation to have but absolutely necessary and Yeah, a good good payoff Okay, so I guess what are you most proud of and we've only been here a month But I guess in your time with the city overall and what do you wish you could do over? Well, I'll start with what I'm most proud of I think You know in terms of of the collaboration community effort, I think I think that's fundamentally I mean it makes you boy can stand out. I mean just with the city and The economic development corporation and the counties, you know all the partners that we have We all have this shared vision and want to work towards so I kind of give the example in terms of affordable housing This has been a big topic that a lot of folks have been talking about for for several years And we just did a comprehensive study and talking with business owners now profit groups different organizations We really recognize what what what the problem is and now we're developing plans to move forward and address it So I think for me, it's really awesome and endearing to see the collaboration and the effort that people put into tackle some of these problems Go down the list, I think That's that's been for me as seeing, you know being at the mayor now kind of see more of the behind the scenes kind of Day-to-day activities and how those are getting tackled That's I think that that's awesome. I think a lot of cities should could learn from Sheboygan in terms of how we tackle some of our issues. I Guess what one of the things that I'm most proud of and I guess it's kind of twofold if I'm allowed that really when I first came in I did what was called a Todd on tour and Why I'm proud of that is because I literally went out to the employees to the departments every shift Whether it was third shift second shift Tried to meet as many and any as many as of our staff as possible because they're the ones that are the foundation of what we do here I wanted them to to know me understand me Where I'm going where what my thoughts what my my? Opening the communication allowing them to understand it Not to not to be worried about where we're going because I've been there. I've done that The city is a little bit behind and that's okay because we can learn from others by moving forward and You know the second part of that is really, you know The second part of being proud of what what I've done is when I first came in You know the best time to become a city administrator is in the middle of a pandemic During budget season and I'm being sarcastic because you come in you're like, you know The sky is falling you don't know where tomorrow is going to be and I think that our community has done a great job Weathering the storm. We're not out of it yet, but we're on the outer edge But we had to adjust our 2020 budget and I had to build a 2021 budget Not knowing what that future is going to be so everybody really Assisted in that because they understand why we need to do things You know we really try to open up that communication and allow people to better understand I don't tell people what we need to do I explain what we need to do to be successful and I listen to the to the team and I listen to what what their concerns are There's so many people that very easily tell me about the past good or bad And we need to we need to remember the past but focus on where we're going and the vision of the city So those are the things that I'm very proud of what would I do different? What I'm not so proud of I think Some of that just has to do with again communicating better and more clearly because There's spent such a lack of communication in my opinion For so long and I'm not saying years or two years or three years, but just for it's just part of the culture here I think we can always improve in communication because the better people understand present-state and future-state and Why there needs to be a change and that help them understand how that change is going to actually happen We can always improve on it So I know one of the things that the city has been talking quite a bit about is how to Make Sheboygan more welcoming community and make it more inclusive and equitable and I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about how The city is doing that. I Think this is this is definitely a big question that I get asked a lot And I think a lot of people recognize that Sheboygan is is a very Changed community in terms of what it was just a few years ago I grew up in the The Sheboygan air school district went through school here So I mean I saw first-hand growing up how diverse our community was just the many different cultures that we have I believe right now we have already over 40 different languages that are spoken in the school district And I think we need to embrace our diversity because it is our strength I mean it's the fabric that is woven within our community And I think the the cultures in the backgrounds that we have here I think we need to ensure that that their voices are heard and making sure that they're They're they're represented on you know when the mayor makes appointments to city committees that we do with the outreach Component as well to make sure that they're plugged in in the decision-making process You know, I think when you talk about diversity and equity and inclusion I mean it really runs the gambit whether it's your your cultural background whether it's The lgbtq plus community whether it's you know younger folks like myself Or senior citizens whoever it is I think we need to make sure we need to set the example at Sheboygan You know is a welcoming community for everybody that everyone is plugged in here And I think it's the city's mission and in purpose that we making sure that the decision that we're making are reflective of that as well You know, there's there's So much more work that we could do, you know I don't have all the answers and Todd doesn't have all the answers and nobody has all the answers right now But we all have to do our part to make sure that we're reaching out to those groups including them Making feel part of of Sheboygan making sure that it's their home too And that's a I'm just gonna expand on it a little bit further I'm not originally homegrown. That's the mask doesn't say it I'm a trans trans plant as I would say I moved here as a disgruntled teenager In the 80s and it took to the 90s to get warm and I can totally Coming from California to and don't hold that against me I grew up and was raised in a very diverse Culture and environment I actually got bust because desegregation and making sure that things were trapped they were trying to equalize things as a as a young kid The these are things that were just common practice common every day you go to school your friends are you know all over all over culture and all over different types of Opportunities, but you can't when I moved to Wisconsin I the first thing I said as a disgruntled teenager his dad did we just go back in time? And this is before back to the future movie was out you know, it's like did we just go back in time and Really and I say that tongue-in-cheek, but it's it's it's so serious because it's it the culture here is so slow It's so it's you know It's the melting pot shabuigan shabuigan city and shabuigan county is a melting pot, but they don't realize What it was like back then when people moved to shabuigan when shabuigan was first founder What different cultures and different dynamics were here? You know you had the the Greeks and the the Russians and the Germans and the you know Irish and all the different the different groups But they all lived in little clusters, right? We really need to take and expand on that and we need to help people it goes back to communication We were either successful or we fail because of communication And we still haven't found a way to get our communities more involved with the community You know we've done a great job with Neighborhood associations were up to 12 now We really need more of those because it gives us that ability to really get involved with the residents with the neighbors Neighbors helping neighbors back in the day when you know, I'm here my mother-in-law and father-in-law my grandmother left the doors open all the time We were robbed as a kid we lock our doors you come to my house, and I locked the door behind you It's just habit and you know people look at me like what are you doing? You know it's like not sorry bad habit, but we we have such a great community And we just need to kind of go back to the way it used to be where neighbors were more involved neighborhood associations and and Neighborhood parties and things like that But we also need to expand as a as a municipal government to help people understand how to get involved So we need to have classes not just for adults, but also you know high schoolers and grade schoolers and say hey This is this is a great opportunity. This is it's a company. It's kind of like having a you know company fair You know hey, what do you do? You know we do so much, you know DPW They open up once a year, and they let everybody see the snow plows and stuff like that But we have so much more we do so much and people don't realize it. Okay, so I know you both have some nonprofit experience Ryan as a staff person and maybe a board member I'm not sure and Todd certainly has a board member Can you talk a little bit about what that experience has? given to you here at City Hall and You know if there's anything that you wish you had known about the nonprofit sector Back then that you know now any advice you give yourself as a new board member and your staff person That's all right, that's okay, I can shoot from the hip The I guess what I would would have would have loved to learn a long time ago And I break I break business into three categories you have the you know the private sector whether it's service or industry you have the nonprofit sector and Then you have the municipal government The the nonprofit sector. I think the biggest struggle working with the actual look You know municipal government is it there's always a disconnect We don't really understand what their needs are and their wants are and they really don't understand what we can do To assist them and I think that again I hate to keep beating up on the on a communication piece, but they're they're an integral part of our community We need them they're they're they're a business and we need that business to grow To help our constituents to be successful no matter what category it is really So we need to better understand what their needs are So that whether it's you know municipal or state or federal can assist them in whether it's grants or Some type of assistance and it may you know might be assistance just through giving them Abilities to do certain things that helps them to be you know To better provide their services it it shouldn't be them against us or us against them It should be a collaboration You know municipal government tends to help business definition of business, you know I tend to focus on the industry side because Everybody says well, we need development. We need more businesses here businesses bring people We need more people. We need to help our businesses that are here already whether it's the service industry restaurants The guy that cuts the cuts the grass down the street all of the levels that are throughout our community but There's a huge need for the nonprofit area in all of the services that they provide and I really think that the biggest Disconnect is we just don't understand what their needs and wants aren't and really what what they provide there's a lot of great nonprofits out there and you know, my opinion is the fact that Nonprofits are looked at is the only thing they do is ask for money Well, you've got to look at the other side of the coin and say what are they doing with that little bit of money? They're doing so much with so little and that you know, I joke because when I work with people in the nonprofit It's like They're very creative. They're they're using, you know, they're getting 10 cents out of a nickel and it you know And that's just the way they work because they've never had the resources We all need to look at it that way But how can we help them to get a nickel and take it to a dime or whatever further? Yeah, definitely adding to a pop to so I worked at an advocacy based nonprofit and I think You know when you're kind of in the trenches if you will working with a certain population of the community You can see firsthand just what the struggles are, you know, where the issues are how are they? How are they hitting home? How are they truly impacting folks that live in this community? So Being involved being on the the city council while working for a nonprofit I think kind of really help develop and shape kind of my view of how how we need to tackle address some of these issues In terms of some of the the pieces of legislation that I worked on Um, I served on that. I was on the Maywood board before I'm currently on the league of conservation Voters of Wisconsin board right now now as mayor. I'm on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway initiative board um So I think those those boards right now that that I'm I'm involved in Particularly give me a sense of, you know, some of the issues that are impacting our community from a different perspective as well But it also opens up new opportunities and potential Again the collaboration and improving communication This morning, you know in terms of talking with In terms of addressing affordable housing mean in our in chan who's on online here. I think still met with folks from the housing coalition kind of talking about Their point of view and their perspective Of what they're seeing when it comes to affordable housing and how we move forward getting their feedback So that when we're moving forward addressing and developing a plan We we get that we get their experience we get their voice to to the table as well, so But again to Todd's point to being on nonprofits like you see That you know, you're not flushed with cash necessarily So you got it you got to be creative got to think outside the box You got to you know find new ways to to work smarter not harder and I think we're doing that as the city especially under under Todd's leadership is the the city administrator here. We've been making a lot of progress moving forward and You know a lot of nonprofits in this community think we're blessed to have them and In terms of their their longevity of how long they've been in this community And they are truly the experts in their field as well and I think that definitely shapes, you know, how how Todd and I Function in our in our day jobs, so Yeah, I think Shaboya definitely has a lot of dedicated nonprofit leaders and boards and volunteers Is there anything in terms of expanding those resources or better communication that you would say or suggest or Ways that that can be improved Well, I guess to you know, when we talk about expanding nonprofit Again, I think it for me it really comes back to what what resources do you need? So that we as a city can kind of look at the guidelines of of our rules regulations. I'll give an example The American rescue plan I've had a lot of emails phone calls and that from nonprofits amongst other other organization And they've all got ideas on how to spend the money But the problem is a part of the problem is we have to remember when we see American rescue plan it's it's federal and When anytime you say government, whether it's state or federal We tend to lack on the details on the on the instructions and the guidelines and I use that as an example because when we had the routes to recovery and the covet act and that those monies A lot of municipalities all over the united states And in wisconsin we couldn't use the money quickly Because we didn't know how we could use it the rules were so tight That as time went The state legislature actually opened it up so we could utilize it better So if you were trying to spend the money in the very beginning You couldn't but by the end Everybody actually found ways to spend it and utilize it to its fullest because the guidelines were changed The american rescue plan is pretty much the same bigger numbers But bigger numbers Don't always mean that it's going to be helpful, right? You have to be very careful part of the reason why The mayor and I are kind of pumping the brakes as I call it is Because the state is going to be rolling out programs And we don't know what those programs are because again, they're not telling us so for us to roll a program out And then the state to duplicate it That's a waste of resources for us, right and for the state and for the state and and really We we've struggled trying to be as you know, we've struggled trying to get money out there So we need to really open up that communication and find out what their needs are and then Match what we can do To to achieve those needs if we don't know what the needs are It's kind of like going to a library and you don't really know what you're looking for is a fiction nonfiction You know, I don't I don't know I can assume but it goes back to communication again If we understand what your needs are whether it's operations or You know the PPE and you know the different things Then we can utilize it and I did have a non-profit reach out to me And I said thank you for doing this because now I can look at that need and I can keep it in the back of my head to say, okay Does this fit any is that puzzle piece fit in our in our puzzle And I'll you know kind of bring another point to that too and um Is that engagement is a fundamental component to to communication One thing that I've been doing is mayor so far in the first month is is Reaching out and meeting with different non-profit executives and leaders in this community That you know, I've I've engaged and had that that that foundational relationship with first But kind of getting that new perspective of of what issues that they're facing because when we're working on an issue At the city level it's it's important to to engage with them and talk with them and Todd's on the habitat board I'm sorry to bring this up when you talk about like collaboration with rock the block You know a lot of our missions overlap when it comes to neighborhood revitalization with with habitat You know when we're meeting with I meant with partners yesterday and Sarah from Habitat last Friday and talking about you know affordable housing in this community as well Um, so so I think components like that when when our missions over line as cities and nonprofits I think teamwork you know makes makes the dream work using the the cliche kind of slogan there So so whether it's you know, you're an environmental focused nonprofit. We're talking about parks or sustainability Um, you know, we want to partner with you too But for for nonprofit folks that are online I would definitely encourage you to reach out to you know, either me or Todd or or your local alderman too I think reaching out to the elders is is important to giving them a tour Introducing yourself if they're in your neighborhood Because they can be a resource if there's ever an issue in your neighborhood or your community That they can be you know partner with you and kind of have your back when you're moving forward. So Yeah, that's what I'll add to that one Yeah, I guess I would just say in this role as grand coordinator. It's been interesting I'd applied for federal money through the city on the nonprofit side but actually seen it from the other side of the mirror and just how Complicated and convoluted and you know type parameters um, you know, I definitely have a new found appreciation for Uh, municipal work and how all of that has to fit together Um, so well ambi. I just want to I'll just jump in real quickly when we talk about funding When the COVID money was originally given out they we had to document it But the documentation was actually very very high level It was used for this it was used for that when it comes to the american rescue plan money because now we're talking about millions You know, you're in trouble when The federal government tells you you can use money To put to hire people to help keep track of the money because we're going to be checking on it We want to know where you spent it and the thing is because we have very lack of detail on what we can spend it on If they don't agree with it We the city have to pay it back so That you know, we give it out to whomever because we've I'm sure the mayor and I've had a lot of different organizations reaching out Letting us know how we can spend the money You know because the city of shabuigan is getting 22.8 million Um in two tracks, so it's 11.4 and 11.4. So 11.4 this month will be hitting our our bank account per se Um But the thing is if we if they don't like how we spent it we've got to pay it back So we've got communities that are saying well, we need a fire truck. Well, I wouldn't want to I wouldn't want to approve that Because if they don't agree with it, guess what the city now has to go borrow money to pay for that If I give money to a different organization and they say no that doesn't work The organization got the money But now the city citizens have to go borrow money to pay for that disagreement in the In the process Yeah, I think the cares act was approved in early april and it was I don't know late august early september before we actually had Guidance on how to spend it. Correct. I often joke that if it was anybody else they'd be fired, but right federal government, so Yeah, they probably got a raise Okay, and then I guess before we go to some more um questions if anybody has one I have one more viewer question What do you love most about shabuigan and what do you see shabuigan looking like a year from now and maybe five years from now Well, Todd and I have our magic wand and we're gonna wave it and we're gonna solve all the problems So that that's all we have to say right Todd. Yeah, no, I'm kidding. I think I think what what I'm most excited about Of shabuigan in the future is, you know, Todd and Todd and I got the energy We got the passion to make make our community a better place um I think with with with what we're focusing on right now Um to to move our city forward, you know, with this pandemics You know, I feel like we're on the down swing right now Um, but I think we have a lot of exciting projects coming down the line in terms of addressing affordable housing filling our business park Um addressing, you know, our water intake and some some wastewater projects as well For the betterment of community, you know, I'm a nerd. I get excited about that stuff Um, it's the the stuff you don't think about every single day of what what makes a city function But just kind of seeing the people in the passion behind it to make my hometown a better place and everyone else's community better place It it's exciting To see in the future. So I'm looking forward to having more affordable housing in the future having our roads fixed More community involvement, but I mean, these aren't things that you can just flip a switch and get done at the you know with the snap of the finger but It is going to take a lot of time effort energy from the city from other local partners as well to get it done But I'm seeing a lot of that collaboration firsthand and I think we can make make that happen Just to expand on that I I totally agree with What the mayor had said and I from my from my point What excites me is any any of you that know me my friends that know me my business colleagues that know me know that I'm a I'm a problem solver and everywhere I go, I'm very good at digging in and fixing things and That's why I don't get nervous when we run into another another opportunity. It's like, oh, okay. It's another opportunity It's the same opportunity. We fix that such and such just the names and the faces have changed, right? We what we're going through In our development process and our cultural change process throughout the community throughout our city And and county is something that's happening everywhere It's not new and what excites me is we have such a great staff And I've worked in companies where I came in and I had to fight every decision not just with the employees But all the way to the top and it's like when you tell somebody What they need it's like being a doctor and telling them you need this medicine It'll make you feel better, but they don't want to take it here at the city It's totally opposite everybody is like it's like a breath of for sure They they're like Todd. We've been saying this for years help us help, you know Let us help you help us kind of thing This is what's exciting is when people want that water want that drink and they know they need it They want that medicine. We've got such a great opportunity to really speed things up Because they're starting to see the the benefits. They're starting to see the momentum and once you get that momentum And it's always hard to get that ball moving at first But you know not an object in motion tends to stay in motion We just have to keep keep it going And when you think of it just not just at the city point But our community our community is at the same point that tipping point where we've got a lot of people retiring They they're not you know, and we've got a lot of young people coming into the community And we really need to start pushing that that change and it's I really think that the last four to five years We as a community have seen a lot of change And it's going to grow once we get that momentum going and because we've got a newer council a younger council And you know, we've got a newer mayor We've got the youngest city administrator In history, right We can only move forward and because we have that energy the energy is really the the key to it is Making the right decisions and and just and having faith and having the knowledge to to keep it going So I really am excited to take this position and be in this position because I don't have the pushback that I did in other in other companies And it's just it's it's so dynamic. Everybody's excited, you know, our our citizens our staff And in our department heads know we're going in the right direction So stepping outside of your roles as mayor and city administrator Todd I hear you love to do burpees, but what else do you like to do? What do you enjoy about living in shabuigan? It wasn't just these it was push-ups. Oh push-ups Like 180 or something I heard last I can I can They're raising money for the senior center and uh It's national employee health and fitness day So yeah, Todd and some partners have some burpees and push-ups to do But if you could talk a little bit about what you enjoy There's one of his partners What you enjoy about living here? How many how many are we up to Emily? It's that big a number I've been paying attention from my office right next door and I just wanted to say we're currently at $1,945 So if anyone else wants to throw a few bucks our way We've got two hours and 15 minutes before Todd and Ryan myself and Rachel our program coordinator Will be on the south lawn just outside doing a mix of burpees and push-ups and squats Fun thanks Emily Yeah, thanks Emily Yeah, these are the things that they don't tell you what being mayor all entails or city administrator. So Todd and I We'll see how this goes. I think I actually volunteered here and it bounced back. Yeah, it ended up on my calendar I don't know. So here we are No, I think there's what was the question why I love it here. Well, I mean Like I said, I've grown up born and raised in Sheboy and I think We take for granted how blessed we are to live in this community. You know, we live live on a great lake You know, the people are just up to the earth. They care about their neighbors. They want to make it a better place um My family's here. I come from a pretty big family both from my mom and dad's side So it's it's always fun just to kind of go home on On a sunday night grabbing dinner with the family and um hanging out with friends It's just it's that sense of community that I think is truly Uniquely Sheboygan When I bring friends from out of town here, you know, they just they're just always in awe just about, you know Some of the amenities that we have how close of access we have to the lake and how it's successful to get around You know, we don't have to deal with getting stuck in traffic or different things like that So we're we're yeah, we're a mid-sized city. Um, we have a lot of the amenities bigger cities have as well, too Um, you know, everyone says Sheboygan says you're head in gem. Well, I'm sick of being a head in gem You know, I want to polish that gem off and put it on put it out the front Um, so I think I think we're working on that. I mean it takes a lot of team effort Um, but you think that's that's something that we're we're striving to do and that's why I love it here I can I can say that when I when I first moved here, I would have done anything to get back to where I came from but As as you as you grow up and you get older you realize The the family values the safety the the the amenities that we have I grew up in a very large city and We had a lot of a lot of issues that Sheboygan's never had I mean, like I said earlier, you know, you don't have to lock your doors per se I would recommend it but you know, people still don't because they don't have to they they feel safe Um, you know, people can walk around at night and not worry We have so many things that I love and we have a great school system. I I I have two daughters They went to school here You know, we we have so many great things and I've traveled all over the states and the world And it's I still come back here and say we are so lucky. We have so much Um, you know, I live by the lake if I lived anywhere else It would be an an unbelievable cost And we have lake michigan and we have great businesses family businesses that have been around for generations Helping to support our communities. We have, uh, you know, such great restaurants that we're it's just phenomenal you go You go outside our area you head down south and I hate to say this but their idea of a great restaurant is you know olive garden and poppies and waffle house and you know things like that and it's like really it's like We're very very fortunate. So I think that We have so much that we have to you know, as the mayor said, we have to polish our gem and we need to really Present what we have because people don't realize how good we've got it And then they move away and then they come back because they're like, hey, this is great Yeah, that would be me Uh, you realize when you're somewhere else just how good quality of life is here Um, so we have a couple questions I'm gonna ask this one first because I just uh disappeared the chat and I have to bring it back If someone has a question about a component of how the city operates or feedback on something They don't like where is the best place to submit that question or feedback if the person doesn't know what department They should reach out to example last week There were a few questions about parking related things that chat didn't have answers to Because that's not really his department or area of expertise Is there a process to ask questions and that feedback so it gets the right entity within the city right away Do you want me to jump on that first? I would say send everything to Todd's office. Oh, wow No, I think the the the best thing is is always contact your older person first They're kind of like the conduit between you and an issue In the city, but otherwise, I mean for real though Todd Todd and I are fairly accessible You can have my office a call and um, we've got to plug you with with with the right answer I get Abby. I guess one of the concerns I have You know from the question In the content of the question is the fact that we actually had a department head that didn't know where to send The information or send the question. So that tells us that we have a Broken process, right? We are we are also looking at An app that we're going to be getting for the city so that Our constituents actually will have a way to communicate to the city and we will have An opportunity to communicate to them and that app will also allow Them to get to dpw by pushing a button get to city hall by pushing a button You know, we're hoping to expand it into our business district and things like that But if and I hate to say this and I do agree with Ryan If if they don't know where to go, you know You can reach out to ryan and myself and we will find out why People don't know and again, we need to improve on our communication There's so many things that Fall into the crack where people don't really know who's responsible. I mean I when I first started here We were i'm sitting in a meeting and i'm like we're talking about a great subject. I'm like, okay Who's the owner? Who's what's the schedule? You know, what resources do we need? There's so many things that we don't really Fix when we find that there's a problem and since I've been here We've been addressing these problems as quickly as we can now can't address everything. We put it in what we call the parking lot But we will find ways to communicate that better So I just say uh in defensive chat a little bit. Um, it wasn't so much that he didn't have Knowledge of who to contact it was more. He didn't want to give an answer for An area that's not his wheelhouse Um, but I know that he did connect people with the proper department head and you know had those conversations, but Yeah Okay, so the next question is when you say you want to run the city as a business Could you please explain how you approach the following? Businesses are meant to make profits while the government is supposed to provide for all citizens for the common good That does not always make good business sense. How do you measure value and profitability and services like the library housing roads? Those make our community a better place, but can't be administered like a normal business If it's okay, I'm gonna jump in first. All right, so you've got a like four questions and statements in there So I'm going to try to answer it as quickly as I can When I say we we need to run the business or run the city like a business What I mean by that is we need to be as fiscally sound and as efficient and effective on everything every process that we do By doing that that allows us to yes have have profit per se, but it means that that profit can be reallocated into additional projects additional road construction additional Programs to go out to the constituents The issue that we have is if you continue to do things the same way you've always done it and expect different results You're not going to get them You know, I also use the example if you're making soup and you use the same ingredients. It's the same soup We have to be doing things more efficiently than anybody So that we can take these resources our costs go up year over year just like every business And if we we don't have the income coming in year over year like you can in in the private sector So we year over year should be doing things more efficiently more effectively So that we can take those profits as we call them and put them into Expanding our programs if we're a good example is you several years ago. We bought a paver. Why did we buy a paver? So we could actually use our our crew to pave streets now They just do an overlay But it allows us to expand on how many how many how many roads or how many miles of roads We can do versus having to schedule it and pay somebody else to do it We're actually able to to save money and do more So it's things like that. It's you know, it's it's looking at using our resources and expanding them efficiently and effectively Just like we did with the ERP system. There are so many modules that we don't use We're still doing some stuff that's literally by on paper and on excel and as 400. These are things that nobody uses anymore I mean, maybe maybe the nonprofit sector uses as 400, but I don't know. People know what AS 400 is Not Todd's getting in the weeds, but but I want to add to what Todd said too. It's you know We need to be much more strategic in terms of our long-range planning and I think that's something the city Just simply did not do, you know in the in the past we talked about how bad our roads are Well, I mean every single year people just there was no plan or you know, the projects just I you know Kicked down the road to use a fun analogy there. So now we're we're in this terrible spot Well, we're trying to play catch-up, you know, so it's it's you know We just we're wrapping up our capital improvements plan and being on the capital improvements plan commission for many years We're seeing the change in how long-term planning is actually playing A much better role in terms of how we govern and that's what folks do in the business sector and in the nonprofit sector Because you understand that you know, you have to be fiscally sound with with how you're managing your funds And how you're being affected with that So I think that's been a positive change to that that that I've seen as mayor and as an holder and how we're making that transition Well, a good example is normally we do our cip capital improvements planning first So we approve how much money we're going to spend or borrow But yet we we haven't been looking at the financial side to say can we afford that money? So it's kind of like saying hey, we're going to do this remodeling project at at home and approving it with your spouse But then you find out when when the estimates come in well, we can't afford any of it So we have to switch that so we're we're doing as the mayor said we're doing more strategic planning For the next five years. We have an upcoming strategic plan for the city To get constituents and get that input to find out. Are we going in the right direction? But from that we're also going to be doing a fiscal strategic plan so that we can see How we can take care of our roads and our facilities and if everybody remembers from our state of the city our number one our largest issue that And I broke it into four areas our our largest issue is roads, right 200 plus miles Our number three was facilities. We have huge facilities. I mean the city hall looks great But that was 10 and a half million dollars that we'll be paying for for a while Our number two was our fleet again one of our most costly endeavors year over year And we've got a solution for that so that takes it out of our cip Which helps us to spend more of our borrow of money towards actual project And then our number one issue which is our most important is taking care of our employees and making sure that We have the right people with the training and the tools to be as effective as possible And then another question. What role do you see the cultural organizations of our community play in advancing shabuagan into the future? Yeah, I think I think the play is very important too like Todd mentioned too as as we develop a strategic plan We're going to be doing a lot of outreach and engagement with with a variety of different different community groups and cultural organizations too and It's it's it's important for me as mayor to making sure that we're plugging in with everyone That we're elevating their voice and hearing their shared their lived their shared and lived experiences For for what unique opportunities that they face as citizens in this community And I think that there are a lot of folks in this community who who've simply been forgotten or ignored for too long And I think it's time that that we engage them and plug them in with the process of our community so I think I think there's a lot of opportunity a lot of potential too and I'd love to hear from them and I want to make my best effort to reach out to folks too as we move forward with A lot of the planning with the strategic plan Just to expand on this on the strategic plan We were supposed to be doing the strategic plan this year and it was pushed off a year So that this year we could work on the internals of the city and making improvements The other the other reason was the fact that Our strategic plan and I was involved with it back in 2017 and it was done And it was a great strategic plan being that it was our first one as a community But it didn't have a very important piece and it was the citizen's piece And that's something that you know, you have to be careful what you ask for and because if you ask a question You may not like the answer that you that you receive, right? So sometimes whether it's a business or a community or or whatever If you don't ask the question and you just make the assumption You're not wrong, right because you made into you made a decision One of the main things that we've been talking about with our our mayor and our our elders is that our strategic plan Should be a very valuable piece and we need to spend some money. We need to do it very very Strategically, but we have to have 100% or as much as possible communication and participation from our constituents The vision of the city is something that actually should be coming from our citizens We can have input But we really need to know where do they want to go? You know, it's like asking your family. Where do you want to go on vacation? They should be telling you what where you want to go on vacation And then the mission is to help us achieve that vision and our core values are to help us achieve our mission And they're all building blocks To get to where we want to go, but if we don't have that course heading We'll never be able to achieve it, but if we don't ask Our group where they want us to go and where the where the deficiencies are What are we doing right so we can do it better? And what are we doing wrong so we can stop and make that change if we don't ask we don't know so again It's it's integral. It's it's something that's it is the fabric that we need To actually be successful as a as a city Okay, so I know we're at just about time. Is there any other questions? I will check the chat one more time If I can remember how to get back again Nothing new, okay So I think with that I would just say thank you to both of you for taking the time to talk with us Thanks to everybody. That's uh viewing at home or at work And I hope you found it valuable and if you have any other questions feel free to reach out Somebody Okay, feel free to reach out to Todd or Ryan or myself And thank you for this opportunity Thanks, Abby and follow us on social media as well and city hall facebook page and twitter and next door and all those fun social media websites So thanks everyone. Yeah, thanks everyone