Page 161 - SAC - DPW - AMB 09 05 19

Mohammad Qureshi

Wednesday, August 21, 2019 10:02 AM

Why are you interested in the Director of Public Works position with the City of Sacramento?
Tell me a bit about what you know about the City.

The reason for my interest is my long-term career goals are to be in a City Manager position - that is
hard to do when I don’t' have experience with a City. I want to move from County to City. I am currently
at a small County- which can be a limiting factor for wanting to do what I want to do - that is the reason
for my interest.

I have visited Sacramento a number of times - it is a large City - there is a diversity of population there.
What makes Sacramento a little more unique - is the influence of the State legislature- the residence are
more knowledgeable about the processes than perhaps other cities, and it requires exceptional skills to
be able to navigate that environment.

Please describe your most recent position and day-to-day responsibilities.
We provide maintenance for roads and bridges, we operate two airports, we operate landfills. I have a
staff of 48-people who service all of those areas. I have a crew at different facilities. We are a jack of all
trades. We are a small County - we don't have a lot of money - we have been fortunate with the SB1
funding in that we are getting to do a bit more work than we have in previous years. We have been trying
to gear up and develop road projects to try to get those done along with the day-to-day patching
maintenance. I am also a part of two JPAs and with the Transportation Commissions to provide staffing
for those agencies. I am also the Executive Director of the transportation area. I have been responsible
for the budgeting with the various functions I've had for the last two years. We did not have a CAO - and
the recently hired in June a new person for that and we are all learning a new environment.

Please describe a project in which you played a major role in creating pathways for
improvement for those in your community.

The most significant project - we are having to close our landfill per the requirements of the State Water
Board. We have built a transfer station to haul away and dispose of our garbage. That has been the
biggest thing for the last 1.5 years. We are still not done- we are in the process still of ironing out the
process language. That will be a significant change. The new costs will impact everyone for the disposal
and the transport - this is a process that is ongoign> There will have to be a review of the fee structures.
That has been the biggest project in the recent year or so.

Please describe your experience in evaluating innovation and operational procedure utilized
in a City department and your approach to staying at the forefront of industry.

I've had experience coming into new environments - one of the things I'm always asked - when you're
new coming in - you get to ask questions to ask why you are doing things the way you are. Generally
speaking, the answer I like to hear is we looked at this and this was the best way. I look at those
opportunities to assess. You really have to look at what your function is, what you're trying to do and
really what is the best way to improve that. Trying to find the best ways to do that. I certainly bring the
practices that I bring from various other positions. I bring a breadth of perspectives having worked at
multiple different agencies. You get to bring in those solutions from other places. In order to understand
the state of the industry you have to be involved in professional agencies.
Please describe your experience in the areas of public transportation and traffic reduction.

My background was as a County Traffic Engineer for Monterey and San Bernardino - we did not get into
traffic reduction per say. When you say traffic reduction, I think of demand management strategies.
Mode of travel that they use - you are trying to get them to shift from a peek period to a non-peek period.