The City's Next CEO: Greg Burris wins over council

Hometown candidate Greg Burris was named city manager during an Aug. 12 news conference at the Busch Municipal Building. The decision to hire Burris at an annual salary of $195,000 was announced within hours of a closed-session council meeting. Burris, who starts Sept. 15, beat out two longtime city managers – Kent Myers of Hot Springs, Ark., and Larry Stevens of Edmond, Okla. – for the post.

Burris is vice president for administrative and information services and chief information officer at Missouri State University, where he has spent his entire 25-year career. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer information processing and a master’s degree in business administration, both from MSU. Burris’ first job was as a programmer/analyst at MSU in 1983. His current salary at MSU is $126,000.

Burris knew all along that his greatest weakness was a lack of city management experience, but he also publicly suggested that the glaring void on his résumé could be an advantage.

“If my greatest perceived weakness is that I haven’t been a city manager, my greatest strength may be that I haven’t been a city manager,” he told Springfield Business Journal in July.

In the end, though, Burris’s local ties and reputation as an ultra-prepared, detail-oriented go-to guy at MSU won over council members.

All told, Mayor Tom Carlson said the council spent more than 25 hours in closed session before settling on Burris, 46. Carlson said Burris fared better than finalists Myers and Stevens based on four desired traits: leadership, strong fiscal responsibility, development/redevelopment experience and community involvement.

“This guy has no peer when it comes to community involvement,” the mayor said at the news conference.

Council members voted 8-1 in favor of Burris, with Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky casting the lone dissenting vote. Rushefsky said she had concerns that Burris had never been a city manager, and she said his MSU administrative experience wasn’t “comparable” to running a city facing an ongoing budget crunch and a drastically underfunded Police and Fire Pension Fund.

“Make no mistake about it, while the vote for candidate Burris was not unanimous, the support for city manager Burris is unanimous,” Rushefsky added.

Burris has repeatedly equated the MSU campus with a municipality when classes are in full swing. He initially said the campus was the eighth-largest metro area in Missouri, but later revised the comparison by suggesting it was the 12th-largest in the state.

“Everything that I have done for the last five or six years has prepared me for this type of position,” Burris said at the news conference. “I’m looking forward to leading Springfield and leading the staff. I’m very, very optimistic about Springfield. I know that Springfield has its own unique problems, but really they’re not unique. Find a city that is not experiencing some … challenges right now. It’s just a tough time.”

Burris’ contenders in the final cut had significant experience as city managers. Stevens’ 20-year career as a city manager included stints in Edmond, Okla.; Pittsburg, Kan.; and Brookfield, a town in north-central Missouri. Myers served as city manager in Hot Springs; Casa Grande, Ariz.; and Converse, Texas.

Both Stevens and Myers wished Burris well, although they declined to publicly offer any advice for the MSU administrator’s foray into city management. Stevens said the Missouri Municipal League and International City/County Management Association would likely be valuable resources for Burris.

Burris said strategic planning and finding a fix for the Police and Fire Pension Fund shortfall will top his list of priorities when he steps into the city manager role next month.

“I’ve got to do a lot of homework before I’m ready to lay out the options,” he said of the pension dilemma. “I’m not ready to come forward with a solution at this point, but it probably won’t be long.”

In terms of business-related issues, Burris said the city needs to better define the focus of its economic development plan. He said he also has heard complaints about hassles associated with city’s planning, development and building regulations.

“Maybe that is an area where we need to go in and do some business process re-engineering,” Burris said.

City Public Information Director Louise Whall said Burris has signed a memorandum of understanding laying out his job responsibilities and the terms of his employment. Burris will undergo annual reviews with the council, which would approve any salary increases.

Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea, who has been with the city for 26 years, has been serving as interim city manager since Bob Cumley retired at the end of May. Cumley spent 36 years with the city and was named city manager in April 2006 after his predecessor, Tom Finnie, retired.

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