There’s been a lot of chatter about Joyce Wilson’s resignation announcement this week. Here’s how I read it.
With Ms. Wilson at the helm, the Borderplex Alliance has a direct line to city staff. Remember, she accepted the (controversial) membership with the Paso del Norte Group. She’s on the team. She’s in the thrall of private enterprise. She believed the beneficent corporate titans when they said they only have the best interests of the city at heart. Or maybe it was convenient to pretend that. Either way.
Of course, staff doesn’t make policy. Except when they do, like the mysterious restriction on sidewalk merchandising that surprised City Council, that no one wants to take responsibility for. And staff can influence the deciders, who are often private citizens with no background in running the city.
Ms. Wilson has aggressively managed staff. She’s promoted a lot of good people to powerful positions, and eased some marginal performers into less influential positions.
To maintain the continuity of her vision for El Paso, she needs to make sure that the next City Manager is drinking the same Kool Aid. The best way to do that is for her to have a hand in selecting the next Capo di Tutti Capo, City government division. If the next City Manager comes from a national talent search, Ms. Wilson will have no control. However, if the next City Manager is promoted from within, the city may maintain the continuity of vision. By announcing her retirement now, she has eleven months to groom her potential successor. And whoever gets the job may feel beholden to her. Maybe Ms. Wilson will take a job at Borderplex, like her former Deputy City Manager Deborah Hamlyn. Or maybe that’s just a scurrilous rumor.