Teamwork resonates in City Hall

Every year, college basketball fans get excited for their team to play in the “Big Dance.” March Madness (women’s and men’s NCAA basketball) is down to the final four teams this weekend. It’s estimated that 34 million brackets were completed this year.

You may know that I had my heyday playing hoops here in town a few years back. These days, I prefer to watch the action from the comfort of my couch.

Basketball is, of course, a team sport.

Yes, there are superstars, but one star athlete can’t do it all. In order to win a game, you have to have a good offense, a good defense, a coach who understands how to motivate the team, and most importantly, teammates who respect one another. After all, each member of the team has the same objective.

When you think about it, running city government is similar to basketball. Minus the squeaking floors and sweat, of course.

It’s been almost a year since Rehoboth Beach, Delaware pulled off a clean steal, hiring Taylour Tedder as their city manager. He’d been here for two and a half years, starting at the end of the COVID pandemic. I’ve often said that the sign of a good leader is the ability of a team to continue to thrive and excel even when that manager is gone. Employees in City Hall couldn’t just call a time-out because they were down a star player. So city council went to the bench and subbed in someone with experience in the role.

Community Development Director Michael Mays drove the lane, filling those high-top sneakers for nearly a year now. For the second time in five years, Michael was able to make all the crossover moves look easy. He provided guidance and direction to city staff, helped drive the search for a new city manager, led the development and adoption of a new strategic plan and bounced between his other role leading community development effortlessly. Boulder City hasn’t lost a step in that time. The excellent work by department directors and staff during the past year have made the transition easy, and continuity of management of the city successful.

Michael and staff – I appreciate your hard work, dedication and patience as we drew up our game plan!

After a lengthy recruiting process, city council and I interviewed two candidates for head coach… er… city manager. Later this month, we’ll see another transition as Ned Thomas takes over as Boulder City’s new city manager. Ned has more than 30 years experience and a valuable work history here in Southern Nevada. He displays great leadership skills and understands the importance of partnerships. His knowledge of the region will benefit the residents of Boulder City greatly.

I feel like this hire will be a slam dunk, and I hope Ned will be a franchise player who will help our community. I look forward to welcoming him here later this month.

Now back to your regularly televised program!