Page 165 - SAC - DPW - AMB 10 07 19

Peter Brown
Is going through Europe from the 10th to the 21st.
Monday, September 30, 2019 12:34 PM

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.
My current employer is a small town in Marin County. I have been managing three different components - we have a
sanitary district, as well as just a standard civil infrastructure - for me, obviously the interest in career advancement -
managing a large city.. I know Sacramento is leading the State in some ways and also trailing in other ways in being
ready for a changing future and climate.

I'm interested in the position - I am the Director of Public Works currently. I have a passion for it. I have a couple of
opportunities at this point in my career to seek a higher level and have a greater impact on a larger community - I want to
find a place that I can stay from here until my retirement. I am very familiar with the City - I lived there since I was a kid -I
have been fairly progressed with the progressive nature - the revitalization of midtown and downtown. I have a big
interest in the City - it's the heart of politics in the State. When it comes to public works more particularly - my whole
career has been around parking policy, transportation safety - infrastructure, being able to take my skillset and what I feel
is a strong resume and be able to bring that to Sacramento to help it achieve a number of it's goals and achieve the
public works infrastructure.

The confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers are there. I think the levy and the infrastructure - in general I
believe some attention needs to be paid towards the flood control infrastructure - it's pretty old - I'm interested to learn
more about how the agency partners with agencies. And then when it comes to more traditional streets roads, traffic
signals, I have a lot of experience and innovative ideas on how to move the City forward in those particular realms.

Please describe your most recent position and day-to-day responsibilities.
I was the Public Works Director for the Town of Corte Madera - that is about 30% of the work, 70% of the work is on the
Public Works side. I manage the maintenance and engineering team. We have a town-wide budget of about $18-19m
per year. We raised our sales tax and got a really good return of about 70% of the vote to deal with the maintenance of
the public works infrastructure - as well as the traffic engineering and maintenance of all components of the town - while
it's a smaller scale than Sacramento . I have my resume explain that I do have experience with larger municipalities. I
have a really high level of interaction with elected officials, the community, and I really relish those opportunities. Take
community input - collaborate with partnering agencies, really understand and advocate.

I oversee a staff of 16 - a little over half of those are on the maintenance staff and administrative folks.

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

I think the Council saw in 2020 the sales tax measure was set for sunset - they thought we should probably do some
outreach to the public - I said you know what that's right up my ally - that's where the multi million dollar traffic, signal
upgrades - those are big ticket items. I said let me do an infrastructure assessment - what do I think our expenditures will
be - I put together a capital improvement program that was really long-reaching - we pretty easily came up with 20-30
million dollars worth of project. We figured doing .75 percent would be better than .5 percent. It turns out that because of
our shopping centers, a lot of our activity came from shopping. We were able to make a case that the infrastructure
needs were there. A lot of homes in the flood plain - really preparing for future conditions and major infrastructure
improvements.

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.

My idea of traditional public works director is a little different than what I see. I've taught on sustainable systems,
infrastructure, climate change - traditionally those things are housed in a sustainability department. Public works has a
primary role in solutions based upon a changing climate and a changing set of priorities for a modern society. The level
at which we consume energy is something that is at the forefront of industry. I consider myself an industry leader. I read
a lot. Vision Zero is something that I have worked on both in San Francisco and in Santa Barbara. If Sacramento is
looking for someone that is on the forefront - the fact that I am in academics - I would be able to bring my forward
thinking to my next job.