Page 136 - CSD - PUD 02 28 19

Gary Mekjian

Friday, February 8, 2019
1:16 PM
1. What drives you to seek this position? Tell me a bit about what you know about the City and the
fit you see with your interests.
What attracted me? Obviously you contacted me. I think the position that I have now is a great
position - it gives me the ability to interact closely with elected officials, other county and state
officials as well. Allows me to work on policy side, as well as having the technical background in
running a large sewer and water operation, and what the metrics are in running one of those
operations. I think that I have the right background. The Pure Water initiative is very unique. That
is something that I would like to be a part of and maybe even lead the charge.
2. Please describe your most recent position and day-to-day responsibilities.

My current position is ACM. Day to day is oversite and operations of the City. I deal a lot
with HR issues. Collective bargaining. Negotiations. Heavy into infrastructure, dealing with
a lot of the economic development and community development opportunities that may
come to the City.

3. How many employees do you supervise? Who do you report to?
My current position - supervise four people. As public services director, I led my
department of 75 people. Position before that was 100 people. At Farmington Hills we
owned the water and sewer system. We had less people in house, we were using the
county. Reports to the City Manager. Total budget at Farmington Hills with water and
sewer is about $85m, biggest budget in the City.
4. Please describe your experience in public sector executive management and leadership.

As far as executive management goes, I am front and center when it comes to communicating
policy decisions, administrative issues to City Council. The City Manager's office is responsible for
the greater City based on the City's strategic plan. Myself and the City Manager leads the charge.
When I was Public Services Director I lead all kinds of initiatives, the most important one was the
accreditation of the Public Works - we became the second public services agency to become
federally recognized.
5. This position requires staff and to work between multiple divisions of the Department and
multiple City departments. How will you enable the organization to deliver a increasingly
cohesive customer experience ineernally, including clarity, timeliness, and responsiveness?
Got to get a handle of the Assistant, where our strengths and weaknesses are. Then put together a
SWAT analysis. Then you need to understand how to address the challenges. If I call someone in
utility billing, and I'm expecting to get an answer. I think it's going to take a lot of education, it's
going to take training. I don't suspect that the people who work in this department are completely
devoid of knowing who is in each division. If they have a major customer service issue where the
staff is being rude to the customers on the phone and don't really care how they're behaving then
that's a whole other wheelhouse. Here in Michigan we will send employees to bootcamp to learn
how to work over the phone.