Tag Archives: Scott Moore

City of Peoria

Fire Chief to be acting City Manager

15 Comments

Official press release from the City of Peoria:

The Peoria City Council has accepted the resignation of City Manager Scott Moore, effective today.

Peoria Fire Chief Kent Tomblin will serve as Acting City Manager until December 8. The Council will then name an Interim City Manager to serve until a permanent City Manager can be hired.

Mayor Jim Ardis said, “after numerous discussions, the Council and Mr. Moore reached the decision that it would be in the best interest of the City, and our staff, if Mr. Moore were to step down. He will be submitting his resignation to me today.”

Mr. Moore will receive a 6-month severance package of $82,500. We wish Scott well in his future endeavors.

City Council, City of Peoria

City Manager fired after council meeting

41 Comments

After the Peoria City Council meeting, the council went into executive session for a long time. After an hour or so, Scott Moore emerged from the room alone and went up to his office, never to be seen again. The council met another half hour or so, then the meeting broke up.

Mayor Ardis announced that Scott Moore had tendered his resignation, and there will be an announcement Wednesday morning as to who will be the interim City Manager. The mayor was asked if it was a performance issue; he replied, “It’s an issue of us accepting his resignation.” In other words, he’s not commenting on the reason for the resignation.

However, he did confirm that Moore will get six months severance pay. Per the City Manager’s contract, “If the Manager resigns following an offer to accept resignation, whether formal or informal, by the City as representative of the majority of the governing body that the Manager resign, then the Manager may declare an involuntary termination as of the date of the suggestion.” In other words, the fact that Moore is eligible for severance means that the Council asked for his resignation, which is a nice way of firing someone.

No one is saying for the record why Moore was fired, but I think it’s fair to speculate that it was poor performance. You don’t generally fire someone if you think they’re doing a wonderful job.

Moore has been City Manager for a little more than one year. His annual salary is $165,000, and he gets six months salary ($82,500) as severance pay.

City of Peoria

Moore doesn’t get San Marcos job

6 Comments

Nuse gets the nod in San Marcos, meaning Scott Moore will remain in Peoria:

After a two-hour executive session Tuesday night, the San Marcos City Council named Jim Nuse as the lone candidate for the vacant city manager position just five weeks before an election that could sit a new council majority.

Nuse is the city manager for Round Rock, though he presented that city’s council with his resignation in June. Nuse’s resignation was to take effect in January.

The council picked Nuse over the two other finalists — Peoria, IL, City Manager Scott Moore and Kilgore City Manager Jeffrey Howell.

All three candidates met with citizens in a session on Sept. 22, then met again in executive session with the city council later that evening. The executive session included interviews with the candidates, after which the council made no decision. Councilmembers said they would use the time before Tuesday’s special session to mull over comment cards presented by residents during the public “meet and greet.”

City of Peoria

San Marcos to decide on city manager Oct. 1

Leave a comment

The San Marcos Record (Texas) reports that the City Council there will make a decision on who to hire as City Manager on October 1. Peoria’s current City Manager, Scott Moore, is a finalist for the position. Over 100 residents turned out for a “meet the candidates” forum on Wednesday, the paper said. Here’s what they had to say about Moore:

Longtime San Marcos resident Carmen Imel said she was impressed by all of the candidates but she especially came to meet Moore because she used to teach at Illinois State University near Peoria.

Imel said she believes the new city manager should help attract companies like Caterpillar to San Marcos because there is a shortage of large employers in the area.

“They need skilled workers, but I guess we’ll have to bring them in,” she said. […]

Even though he is currently the farthest away, Moore told attendees that his roots in Central Texas make him the ideal candidate.

Moore earned his Bachelors in Business Administration from then-Southwest Texas State University in 1994 and played football there from 1989 to 1993.

“I think just being able to come back and re-establish ties. I have an instant connection with the athletic department, the administration (and) the business school,” he said.

He said even though he has only been city manager of Peoria for one year, he welcomed the opportunity to possibly move back to San Marcos because he is originally from Bastrop and still has family there.

“Any chance an individual gets to go back home, you have to always say you are interested,” he said. “If a person says they are not interested in going back home or going back to where they got a start, I think it would be short-sighted for the conversation to really go beyond that because I think in everybody’s heart they would want to go close to family and friends.”

He was previously the assistant city manager of Wichita, Kan. from Aug. 2005 to Sept. 2009.

It’s interesting that in San Marcos, the public gets to meet the candidates before the Council decides who to hire. In Peoria, everything is kept a secret from the public until after the decision is made. John Sharp had a good article in the Journal Star about how our local officials rationalize their lack of transparency in the process.

City of Peoria

City Manager Moore a finalist for Texas job (UPDATED)

34 Comments

Peoria’s City Manager Scott Moore has been announced as a finalist for the city manager position in San Marcos, Texas, according to the San Marcos Daily Record:

The San Marcos City Council has announced three finalists for the position of City Manager following two days of interviews.

They are Jeffrey Howell, city manager of Kilgore, Scott Moore, city manager of Peoria, Ill [emphasis added], and Jim Nuse, city manager of Round Rock.

They will be invited back for a second round of interviews with the City Council and a public meet and greet to be held on Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the City of San Marcos Conference Center, 3101 S. IH 35.

San Marcos is located about halfway between Austin and San Antonio in south central Texas and has a population of about 35,000. The City Manager job description for San Marcos is available here. Scott Moore started as Peoria City Manager in August 2009.

UPDATE: The City of Peoria has released a statement from City Manager, Scott Moore:

City Manager Scott Moore is a finalist for the position of City Manager in St. Marcos, Texas. As a young professional, Scott has been sought out by other communities; however, this particular location would provide him with the opportunity to be closer to family. “I enjoy the challenges that we are working through in the City of Peoria, and it is also humbling to be approached by other communities who believe you possess the qualities that could be an asset to their organization,” said Moore.

City Council, City of Peoria

Council retreat rescheduled for May 5

Leave a comment

The Peoria City Council retreat was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 24, but was rescheduled at the request of City Manager Scott Moore. “I had asked the Council to consider rescheduling the retreat due to several of their colleagues having a conflict and would not be attending the session,” Moore explained. “I felt it would be important that all the Council members attend the session to weigh in on the budget and establish key strategies for staff and I to work on this upcoming budget season.”

So the new date is Wednesday, May 5, according to Moore. The time has not yet been announced, but weeknight special meetings usually start at or around 5 p.m. Presumably the agenda will be similar to the one released for Saturday’s meeting:

ITEM NO. 1 WELCOME – Mayor Ardis and City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 2 MACRO-TRENDS – Dr. Aaron Buchko

ITEM NO. 3 CITY TRENDS – City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 4 CONFRONTING THE “BRUTAL REALITIES” – Dr. Aaron Buchko

ITEM NO. 5 BREAKOUT #1 – Key Strategic Issues

ITEM NO. 6 BREAKOUT #2 – Addressing the Issues: Guidelines

ITEM NO. 7 BREAKOUT #3 – Addressing the Issues: Action Items

BREAK

ITEM NO. 8 STRATEGIC ISSUES: Priorities, Policies, and Budget Implications

ITEM NO. 9 CITY/COUNCIL DISCUSSION – Budgetary Issues

ITEM NO. 10 WRAP UP and NEXT STEPS – Mayor Ardis and City Manager Scott Moore

ITEM NO. 11 ADJOURNMENT

City of Peoria

Moore: “critical loss of services,” “crippling effect” in store for Peoria

28 Comments

The new City Manager Scott Moore will have to forego the traditional “honeymoon” period new managers usually enjoy. He gets the unenviable job of reporting this distressing news to the council at his very first meeting:

The Finance Department is now projecting the FY2010 budget deficit to be $14.5 million. This re-forecasting is the result of continued poor performance in City revenues, especially sales tax receipts.

The Finance Department had previously predicted a deficit of $10.5 million, which was already unbearable. The new deficit projection is 38% higher. Ouch.

As an aside, I thought it was interesting that he says, “especially sales tax receipts.” I wonder what effect these “especially” lower sales tax receipts are having (or will have) on a couple of new sales taxes — the Hospitality Improvement Zone (HIZ) tax and the upcoming public facilities (museum) tax. And, conversely, what effect the addition of these new taxes will have on future sales tax receipts. Sales taxes are largely voluntary. If consumers don’t want to pay them, they simply make their purchases in one of the surrounding communities, like East Peoria. As taxes go up, I wonder how much more business Peoria will lose.

But I digress. What does this mean for city services? Read on:

A total of 46 positions have been identified for complete elimination and 14 have been identified for seasonal lay-off…. The Police Department will be faced with reducing its fore by 17 officers. The Fire Department is faced with eliminating 15 positions, including shutting down one fire company. If the Firefighters Local 50 had not conceded their 2010 wage increases, the closing of a second fire company would be facing the department. Other front-line departments like Public Works and Emergency Communications could also expect critical losses in service delivery internally and externally. Information Systems and Legal will lead to serious interruptions and delays that will impact front-line departments and citizens alike.

The report goes on to say, however, “The critical loss of services and the crippling effect of many of these changes is likely unacceptable,” and asks for more direction from the council. I’m not sure what else the council could do to reduce expenses; I think there’s going to have to be some talk about raising taxes — specifically property taxes — to mitigate some of these cuts. Property taxes are not volatile like sales taxes.

With sales taxes, the city sets the rate and then gets revenue based on public purchasing. When people don’t go shopping as much or shop somewhere else, revenue goes down. With property taxes, however, the city starts by determining the amount of money it needs to receive (called a “levy”) and then the necessary tax rate to raise that amount is figured based on the equalized assessed value (EAV) of property within the city. Thus the city is more or less guaranteed to receive the money it requests in this way.

The question is, what will public reaction be? Will they rather see draconian cuts to police and fire, or fewer cuts coupled with an increase in their tax rates to maintain an adequate level of service?

City of Peoria

Hullinger to retire Nov. 6

6 Comments

The City of Peoria’s Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger announced yesterday that he will be retiring, effective November 6. He explains his reasons for leaving on his department’s blog:

I believe that I have successfully met my goal of “Leaving my City a better place than I found it.” … The Mayor’s latest budget message of September 15, 2009 makes it clear that the City must make further substantial budget cuts. The City needs to cut expenses and senior staff. I will be 62 this year. I retired from the Marine Corps last year as a Colonel. It makes sense for both the City and me to retire. I will remain in Peoria (and Sarasota in the winter), and start a small part time economic development and planning consulting firm, continuing to help communities revitalize their older neighborhoods. And I will keep working to help improve the City and region.

His resume is posted online. I asked Craig about rumors that he would be rehired by the city as a consultant (a la District 150). He replied, “The City would be a great client. I plan to only work part time, targeting 1/2 time. I did propose to the City to continue to work for 25K a year to help close some developing development deals such as in Warehouse, Eagle View, and HIZ, but no response yet. The City is very busy with the budget crisis, and saving my salary and overhead will help. But I will help out with or without a consulting contract. I think most people want to see the Heart of Peoria successfully redevelop. And I live in the HOP [Heart of Peoria], and want it to succeed whether I am working for pay or not.”

He also has recommended having Chris Setti replace him as Economic Development Director. “Knows the City, worked in ED as our top ED Specialist, very capable guy.” Setti left the Economic Development department to become a Six Sigma blackbelt for the city. He’s now the assistant to the City Manager.

The Journal Star reports that new City Manager Scott Moore “said the position will be analyzed in the coming months as city officials examine a potential restructuring at City Hall. ‘I don’t want to do anything prematurely,’ Moore said. ‘I want to get feedback from the departments, from (Hullinger), and input from the council, so that when I’m making that decision, I’m not making it in a vacuum.'” Setti is quoted as saying, “I’m a team player. I’m willing to do whatever the city leadership thinks is best for the city.”

City of Peoria

New city manager may come from Wichita

7 Comments

Scott-MooreAccording to a breaking news story in the Wichita Eagle newspaper, a finalist for the Peoria City Manager position is Wichita’s Assistant City Manager, Scott Moore.

[Wichita] Vice Mayor Jim Skelton said today that Moore has indicated he will likely leave Wichita for the job.

. . . Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and Councilman Gary V. Sandberg would not confirm they are negotiating with Moore. But they confirmed that he is a finalist.

They said the Peoria City Council will negotiate with the finalist and vote on a contract, most likely at their next council meeting Aug. 25.

Moore got strong endorsements from Ardis and Sandberg.

“Scott, in particular, has a very strong background and experience working in a big city like Wichita, which is helpful,” Ardis said.

Moore’s experience with tight budgets, such as the one he and other officials faced this year, is attractive, Ardis said.

. . . “We feel that Scott’s experience in that realm will be very good for us,” Ardis said.

Sandberg visited Wichita several weeks ago and was impressed with the city.

He said his questions are about why Moore and other Wichita officials didn’t more closely vet a Renaissance Square developer who had several lawsuits for nonpayment of bills and bounced checks.

Moore was interim city manager at the time, though Director of Urban Development Allen Bell accepted the blame for not relaying background information to council members.

Moore was also the Interim City Manager of Wichita while the city searched for a new City Manager. According to an October 2008 Kansas television news story, “[Wichita] city policy doesn’t allow the interim city manager to also apply for the [city manager] job.” According to the story, Mayor Carl Brewer said Moore “was given the option of taking the interim job or applying like everyone else.” Since then, Moore was a finalist for the city manager position in Corpus Christi, Texas, but (ironically) lost to Corpus Christi’s Interim City Manager Angel Escobar. Before the job went to Escobar, and Moore was still a finalist, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times published a glowing profile of him:

Former Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans said Moore faced some political turmoil in the city.

“Scott always handled that with a quiet demeanor,” he said. “He’s not a confrontational person; he’s about getting the job done. The world of the big-city managers is a world of egos many times. I don’t believe you will see that in Scott.”

He worked to entice businesses to Wichita and redevelop its downtown, planned repairs to the city’s failing infastructure and oversaw expansion at the city’s airport and rail system.

Hmmm… Expansion of the rail system…. Sounds promising! The Caller-Times also added a little more info on why Moore took the Interim City Manager position with Wichita: “Wichita city officials already told him he wasn’t qualified to hold the post full-time, the standard rejection he had heard before.”

Here’s a quick bio on Scott Moore from a City of Wichita press release when Moore was appointed Interim City Manager:

Moore was the top administrator for the City of Ellsworth [Kansas] from June 1997 to June 2005 when he became Wichita’s Assistant City Manager of Operations….

Moore is a native of Bastrop, Texas. He attended college at Southwest Texas State (known now as Texas State), where he earned a business administration degree in 1994. He played wide receiver for the Division I Bobcats. In May 1999, Moore earned a masters degree in public administration from Wichita State University while serving as the top administrator for Ellsworth. Moore’s achievements in Ellsworth include uncovering a high-profile embezzlement case, negotiating an $800,000 legal agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation and securing future financial commitments to assist the city-owned visitor center.

His honors include being named Ellsworth’s Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 2003. In 1999, Gov. Bill Graves presented him with a certificate of recognition for becoming Kansas’ first African-American city administrator. He also coached middle school basketball in Ellsworth. In 2007, the Wichita Business Journal selected him as member of its coveted “40 Under 40” honorees. Moore currently sits on the board of the Boy’s & Girl’s Club of South Central, Kansas….

Before Ellsworth, Moore worked four years as a budget analyst for the City of Austin, Texas, which is near his hometown. He is married to Tammy, a native Lyons; they have two daughters.

And here’s his resume from the same site (copied to the Peoria Chronicle’s archives).

If hired, Moore would replace Peoria’s Interim City Manager Henry Holling, who was appointed in January 2008 within a couple of weeks after former City Manager Randy Oliver’s departure. Oliver is now the City Manager of Surprise, Arizona. The City Council started a search for a new City Manager last year, but then suspended the search until after the latest municipal election.