A public comment period has been opened to allow Durango residents to weigh in on how City Manager José Madrigal is doing during his first year on the job.
Durango’s charter calls for annual public feedback about the city manager to inform the City Council’s review.
“I think it’s very important for the public to have a mechanism where they can give feedback to the council and the city manager,” said City Councilor Barbara Noseworthy. “This is the mechanism that allows for constructive feedback in a formal manner that’s part of an evaluation process.”
The city’s short survey, which can be found at www.durangogov.org/1460/City-Manager-Survey, allows written comments, as well as asks a few questions about an individual’s level of interaction with the city manager. Residents will be able to access the survey until Sunday.
In an effort to remain impartial, Noseworthy would not comment about how she feels Madrigal has done as city manager this past year, but said it has been a successful year. Notable successes she mentioned include the various new hires the city has made in various departments, and the launching of the city’s financial transparency tool OpenGov.
Noseworthy said there is always room for improvement, and that’s what she hopes to hear from the community.
Madrigal, who started in September 2020, characterized his first year on the job as a building year, noting that he had to hire for a number of director-level positions throughout city departments.
“Where I look at it, this year was about coming in and providing some stability within the organization,” Madrigal said. “Coming in and not having a finance director or an human resources director, and making those hires to fill out those executive ranks was key.”
Madrigal said two things he’s proud of this past year was the city being able to provide businesses having trouble during the pandemic some options for financial relief, and working with City Council to draft a strategic plan.
With about 20 years of experience working in city governments, Madrigal said Durango’s citizen engagement sets it apart from other cities.
“We have such a well-engaged citizenry that is very well spoken, and can produce their sides of an issue very well,” Madrigal said. “At times when we’re dealing with difficult policy decisions, it can be a little difficult to figure out which direction the citizens want to go, because there are a lot of well-produced viewpoints.”
Madrigal said in the coming year he hopes to continue to improve efficiency, transparency and citizen engagement.
“We always have to continue to work on those in order to establish and maintain those relationships with the organization, the elected officials, and with other governmental organizations and community partnerships,” Madrigal said.
One important future goal for the city and Madrigal is housing affordability.
“Affordability is the big one,” Madrigal said. “We really want to make some headway in regards to workforce housing to try to continue to make Durango affordable for everyone.”
njohnson@durangoherald.com
