Holbrook’s new city manager is taking a fresh approach to city operations in order to set the city on the right path for improvements and development. Sharon Jakubowski Wolz began the job on June 24, and has had the opportunity to see some of the concerns that need to be addressed and realize some of the promise that Holbrook may hold.
“I’ve been working very closely with Mayor (Kathleen) Smith. She gave me the list of projects that council wants to see. Right now our focus is cleaning up the city starting with code enforcement, weed abatement and things like that. We have to clean up the city if we want people to come here and be business owners. We want residents to come in and grow that population back to what it once was,” she said.
What she has noticed regarding improvements is a lot of “band-aids.” She said, “You can’t sustain a city if you don’t put funds into your fleet, your buildings, your infrastructure. If we’re going to do it, do it right because it’s going to save us money in the long run. Holbrook is a town of great potential and we’re going to make it happen this time. Whatever has happened in the past was said in the past, we’re moving forward.”
She is working with the Holbrook Planning & Zoning Commission and determining how to best implement the general plan that has been presented by the city council. She is also considering ways to offer an incentive program to beautify the façade of main street buildings that are up to code but may still be an eyesore. She’s hoping that by encouraging beautification, others will want to do the same. “If everyone around you is improving their property, then chances are you will too. It not only improves the area, property values increase.”
In order to ensure proper development within the community, Jakubowski Wolz is looking into hiring a full-time building inspector. “People need to know that there’s no ‘I’m going do it and then beg forgiveness later’ attitude. Everybody who is doing work in the city should have an ROC (Arizona Registrar of Contractors) license. These are thing I want to fix because it’s all lost revenue. Lack of permitting, doing construction you’re not supposed to do, not meeting code enforcement these are problems that will be dealt with.” Jakubowski Wolz is also implementing a new software program for code enforcement that will be used to track code violations and send notices when violators need to be contacted to see if improvements have been made and if not, what recourse to take next.
She is also looking into what can be done to improve city amenities for the residents. To start, she and Mayor Smith hosted a public meeting last week to receive community feedback regarding the development of Hunt Park. “We are looking to create more activities over there of what people want.” Considerations such as repurposing the tennis courts as pickle ball courts and determining the best use for the racquetball space will be addressed.
Another area she will be looking at is the Hidden Cove Golf Course in order to determine how that can be improved and vetting out potential grants to improve the road leading to the course, which has deep ruts that may cause potential users to reconsider visiting the course. “It’s the city’s property and we should pay for it but there’s also the golf association that I want to visit with and see if they may be willing to do some fundraising to benefit not only themselves but the course as a whole with improvements and expansion of the course for additional uses.”
Regarding staff, Jakubowski Wolz is already making assessments of the need and determining the changes she needs to make. She noted that Human Resources Director Pat Nichols will be retiring in September and that Misti Hatch will be stepping into that position. Jakubowski Wolz has already had her register to be part of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, which is a professional human resources membership association that provides education, certification and networking for human resource professionals.
The city is also looking to fill a part-time front office position in order to allow City Clerk Lisa Hunt to focus on the tasks that she needs to address, rather than also being a receptionist at the front desk. She noted that with Hunt anticipating retiring in two years, an individual will need to begin training to become city clerk as that position requires extensive training and certifications in advance.
Jakubowski Wolz has gone throughout the city, visited with the various city departments and observed how they operate and what duties are assigned to staff. “Every employee will be accountable for their hours and should have a schedule of what their tasks are to be.” She’s currently working on an organizational system to ensure accountability when tasks are assigned. “There’s also going to be accountability for employees who use city resources for personal use. This is taxpayer dollars that are being used to run this administration so we need to be sure that we have our fiduciary duty to monitor those funds and that we’re spending them wisely.”
She’s also assessing employee skills and determining if additional certifications are needed for certain projects. “I’m going to do what it takes to make a team with the understanding that we can’t function in isolated departments. I want this to be a place where people enjoy coming to work and take pride in what they do.”
Jakubowski Wolz is excited for the opportunity to work with the council, staff and citizens to improve Holbrook. “There’s a lot of work to be done but I plan to take it in chunks and do it in progression, so that the residents can see it too.”
She believes transparency in operations is critical and invites anyone with concerns or questions to reach out. “I have an open-door policy, if anyone wants to come and see me, that’s fine. You will be my focus of attention. We’re public servants and we need to make sure the residents know that they’re being thought of and taken care of right.” Jakubowski Wolz is looking to host a meet and greet with the public in August, with details to be announced soon.
