José Madrigal wants to rebuild residents’ trust in the City of Durango through transparency in the city’s finances and decision-making processes, and he wants and expects accountability for meeting the goals that the community wants accomplished.
Transcript
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Durango’s new city manager
has spent his first six months
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on the job meeting people,
crafting a strategic master plan
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and coordinating $800,000 of COVID relief
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for local businesses, and that’s not all.
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You’re watching the Local News Network
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brought to you by to Tafoya
Barrett and Associates
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and The Payroll Department.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
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When we asked new Durango city manager
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Jose Madrigal how his wife
would describe him, he laughed.
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Very happy, very optimistic, positive,
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and loves to socially engage.
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Those would be kind of who I am.
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I don’t get down on myself too much.
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I don’t get down on failures or times
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where we stomp our feet or we go through,
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it’s always about the next and moving on
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and always looking at that future goal.
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And Madrigal certainly
has been socially engaged
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since he arrived in September
to succeed former city mayor,
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Ron LeBlanc, who resigned last spring
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in the midst of controversy
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over a more stringent
performance evaluation proposed
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by a new city council.
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Madrigal’s meetings with a
broad range of constituents are
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one of several strategies he
has set to reestablish trust
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and transparency in city government.
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And I know that even when
I looked at my calendar,
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everyone was like, “Wow, that’s,
you’ve got like, you know,
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six hours a day of just
kind of meeting with people
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in the community.”
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And I knew it was important.
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It was something that was
very well ingrained into me
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during the interview process
and a part of a challenge
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yet an opportunity of really
establishing that trust,
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and the biggest way that
you can do that is be part
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of the community and be
out in the community.
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So every moment that I can, I, you know,
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taking in new meetings,
meeting with people, talking
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about their issues, talking
about what their concerns were
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and, you know, beginning to
make, piece by piece slowly,
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rebuilding that transparency,
rebuilding that portion,
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and it, and it really does start
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with making those introductions,
talking about who we are
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and when that call
comes in for assistance,
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being there to help out.
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Madrigal grew up in Austin, Texas,
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and attended Texas Tech University
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where he completed a bachelor’s
degree in political science
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and master’s degree in
public administration.
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He has 17 years of municipal
government experience
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in central Texas, with 13 of those
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in executive leadership positions
that included all facets
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of city management from
public safety to public works
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to finance and communications.
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In addition to his
community outreach efforts,
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Magical coordinated an
$800,000 COVID relief package
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for city businesses, and he led the effort
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to develop a strategic plan to address
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some of Durango’s most pressing problems.
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So I think right now the
biggest challenge, the biggest,
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I think, issue that we hear
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about all the time can be
summed up with affordability.
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That is what we’re hearing
from the residents.
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We just went through our
strategic planning process
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and it was affordability,
affordable/attainable housing.
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So, you know, an ability
to, to grab a house
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and purchase a house, even
for those that you know,
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are making, you know, a
working wage here, and I think
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that’s the biggest part and the
challenge that we’ll have is
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how do we solve that issue to where we can
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kind of make Durango that
multi-generational place
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where kids can come back and live,
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where we can continue to go
through and it doesn’t get
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to that portion to where
it’s such an expensive place
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to live that we end up losing a lot
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of that local charm that we
have here in the community.
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Madrigal said the strategic plan
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also identified
homelessness as a priority,
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but it won’t be solved easily.
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Nevertheless, the city
and La Plata County took
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a giant cooperative step
forward this winter,
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when it approved funding for
a homeless navigation program
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at Manna Soup Kitchen and formed
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a management-level task force
to ensure some progress.
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The task force includes both
city and county managers,
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attorneys a commissioner,
and city councilor.
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Will there be a solution next year?
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Probably not, but I will say
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that I think we’re getting progress
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to where we’re making
small continued steps
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to making to that big solution at the end.
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Madrigal admits that rebuilding
the community’s trust
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in city government will take
more than a few handshakes.
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It will take transparency, setting clear
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and measurable goals, and accountability
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for meeting those goals
through the strategic plan.
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That’s the biggest part of
what is my management style is
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that we’re going to be strategic.
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We’re going to hit the goals
that the community has outlined
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through the council.
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We’re going to show our
progress within the projects.
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We’re going to report back.
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We’re going to let the citizens know, hey,
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this is where our work is.
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We’re doing OpenGov right now, which is
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a really cool tool that I’ve
used that’s going to open up
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our financials where anybody
can jump on at any time
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and take a look at what
we spend on our budget,
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where we’re at on our
budget, what we spend
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through our check register,
you know, begin opening it up
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to where people can
come in and take a look
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and see that we’re
open, we’re transparent,
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you know what we’re doing,
you know why we’re doing it,
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may not agree, but at least you know why,
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and then you’ll know the results
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of where we’re coming from on it.
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Madrigal and his wife
Meredith have a blended family
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of five children.
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To learn more about the changes
that Madrigal hopes to bring
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to city government, visit DurangoGov.org.
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Thanks for watching this edition
of the Local News Network.
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Be sure to stay on top
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of our latest news stories
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
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