https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Events
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • Magazine
    • Back
    • Digital Editions
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • Advertise
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • Magazine
    • Back
    • Digital Editions
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • Subscribe to GovPro
    • Manage GovPro Subscription
    • Advertise
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
acc.com

Smart Cities & Technology


Article

What cities need to do if they are in startup mode

What cities need to do if they are in startup mode

Brookhaven, Ga., City Manager Christian Sigman outlines steps cities need to take in their early years of development.
  • Written by Michael Keating
  • 17th January 2017

New cities are popping up in the U.S. A 2015 U.S. Census Bureau report estimated 17 new incorporations took place from 2010 to 2013. Brookhaven, Ga., in the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta, was incorporated Dec. 17, 2012. The city’s population is about 51,000.

GPN reached out to Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman to learn what steps cities need to take in their early years of development. Sigman has held the city manager’s post since this past June. He’s been in leadership roles in local governments for more than 30 years. Most recently he served as county administrator in Hamilton County, Ohio, where he led some 4,000 employees.

Brookhaven’s city charter spells out a variety of duties for its city manager. The charter notes that the city manager is responsible for the city’s day-to-day operations and management. The city manager is also responsible for directing Brookhaven’s 150 employees. “Running a city involves overseeing operations, organizational development, fiscal stewardship and policy implementation,” Sigman says.

On the budget front, about $160 million is earmarked for public works projects through Brookhaven’s various master plans. One of those projects is the Peachtree Creek Greenway — a proposed 12-mile multi-use trail that would stretch from the Atlanta beltline to Doraville, Ga., travelling parallel to the Buford Highway.

City officials are considering spending between $2.2 and $2.8 million in the latest fiscal year on paving and road construction. Other products on Brookhaven’s shopping list include: public safety equipment, computers, furniture, and vehicles, furniture, computers and phones. Below are Sigman’s views.

GPN: What’s it like creating a purchasing department in a startup city?

Christian Sigman: Lucky for me, my predecessor did it. The challenge is, you typically don’t have the controls and decision-making processes in place, and you are just hustling to get up and running. Sometimes there isn’t a process to follow; you just do it. And you have to get to the point where—purchasing is a process-driven activity—and sooner or later you have to document your purchasing processes and your filing and your record-keeping and all of that. To the best of my knowledge, we haven’t had a bid protest and we haven’t been sued. But you better have those policies in place before that happens, because litigation happens.

GPN: It probably helps if a city has skilled, trained, certified personnel on staff, if they are available.

CS: Very true. We have a really good purchasing team. Tyra Little is purchasing manager. We are getting the commodities and services we need and they are delivered to the right departments. So I have absolutely no problems.

GPN: Does Brookhaven use cooperative contracts or strategic sourcing to buy goods & services?

CS: Regarding purchases, yes we use cooperative contracts, whenever it’s advantageous to us. Those purchases can be via state contract, the federal General Services Administration or a neighboring jurisdiction that has a rider on their purchasing documents. We also use cooperative contracts through state associations, like the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA).

GPN: Are there any similarities between your work in Brookhaven and your career in Hamilton County, Ohio?

CS: This is my sixth city management job in 30 years. Procurement is the same everywhere you go. There’s always the issue of insurance coverage levels and those types of things. I’ve seen that in all six of them. I think we are a little bit more nimble here in Brookhaven compared to Hamilton County, because maybe our task orders are smaller. I think that’s probably the biggest difference.

GPN: Do you have any advice for communities that are in startup mode?

CS: I’d say that they need to definitely talk to their neighbors—i.e., They need to communicate with like-size cities within that state as well as similar cities within the metro area. Also, they need to check with state municipal associations. The Georgia Municipal Association for instance, offers a strong suite of services. State groups like the GMA can give your city a good start.

_____________

To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on Youtube

Tags: Administration Economy Procurement Smart Cities & Technology Article

Related


  • Biden’s relief plan includes $350 billion for local and state government
    President-Elect Joe Biden announced a $1.9 trillion relief plan Thursday to combat the COVID-19 crisis and the economic downturn it has caused. In addition to $400 million to combat the pandemic specifically, the proposal includes $350 billion for state, local and tribal governments that would help them to bridge budget shortfalls, help public works maintain […]
  • How Philadelphia is aiming for zero waste
    The city of Philadelphia has long collected data on city properties’ waste generation and leveraged it to improve waste management, but now it’s honing in on the commercial sector too, realizing this will be crucial to hitting Philly’s zero waste targets. Today it runs a voluntary program where both municipal and commercial operations do detailed […]
  • Florida county announces successful test of Motorola Solutions’ cloud-based P25 core technology
    A Florida county recently announced the completion of a successful test of Motorola Solutions’ CirrusCentral Core, the cloud-based secondary core for ASTRO 25 P25 systems that is designed to provide redundant reliability to the land-mobile-radio (LMR) network without the costs associated with a physical secondary core site. In Sumter County, Fla., the absence of a […]
  • How the City of Fullerton navigated adding candidates to ballots remotely
    This time last year, we were all looking forward to 2020: the start of a new decade and big elections (federally and locally) were just a few of the things we were excited about as we closed out the year. Little did we know, the beginning of the end of “normal” would happen two month […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Cleveland launches program to create circular rconomy
  • In challenging year, working with public safety to move FirstNet forward
  • Shared governance: How pandemic partnerships can lead to progress and offer promise
  • Biden Administration – Projected 25x greater Investment in smart cities

White papers


How a unified HR system helps one public safety organization manage crews, payroll, and more in a single platform

7th January 2021

Your Roadmap to COVID-19 Funding

18th December 2020

The One Where Everyone Wins: A Mutually Beneficial Contracting Method

10th December 2020
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

The latest episode The Young Leaders Podcast focuses on Cyril Jefferson. Cyril is the youngest African American to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

27th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Hillsboro, Oregon is pioneering a new #renewableenergy generation technology through a partnership with… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

27th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

The impact of the #COVID19 pandemic on #telework was swift and profound. Now, the big question is whether – and to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Get ready for the can't-miss webinar on how to kickstart your efficiency improvement plan with Luke Anderson of… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Among all states headed into the 2020 general election, which ones have voting populations that are the most demogr… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts in our readership survey to help us shape future content so that we c… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd October 2020
AmerCityCounty

See how cities different approaches to distribute masks in their communities >> spr.ly/6010GAPLa

23rd October 2020
AmerCityCounty

While #facialrecognition is a powerful tool that can improve law enforcement efficiency, that doesn’t necessarily t… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd October 2020

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X