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Jason Behrmann stands near the construction site of Peak Manufacturing, one of several projects being overseen by the new city manager of Galt. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)
New Galt city manager juggles job, family
Starting Nov. 4, Jason Behrmann took over as Galt's city manager, replacing Ted Anderson, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Behrmann previously worked as Galt's assistant city manager for three-and-a-half years. The 36-year-old owns a house in Galt with his wife, Shelby, and their four children: Andrew, 9, Natasha, 7, Preston, 4, and Adam, 3. The family also has a new Maltese poodle named Sophie.
Behrmann sat down with reporter Maggie Creamer to discuss challenges facing the city, how he balances work and home life, and where he grew up.
Q: What are your top three goals for the city?
A: The first goal is to work with the staff to look for ways to improve our efficiency. Sometimes we get into a situation where we have been doing things for so long, people don't question why we do it. So what I'm going to be asking staff to do is to re-evaluate all of our processes and see if there are better ways that we can do things.
Second, we have negotiations starting with both of our labor groups. We will ask our employees to help us balance the budget.
The other priority of mine is to establish a good working relationship between myself and the city council, so we can, as a team, work toward moving forward with the city's goals and objectives. Also, we need to communicate with the public. They need to understand what the issues are in Galt and what we are doing to address the financial concerns.
Q: What is the biggest challenge facing Galt?
A: The biggest challenge is the economy. We are concerned about what the state is going to do. I think the state is in a world of trouble. I don't think they are being honest with either themselves or the public. I just keep waiting for the next round of hits to come.
The other scary thing is to not know when it's going to end. We can strategically balance where we are and get some savings by doing furloughs or reducing positions, but how far is it going to go? People say the recession is over, but I haven't seen a rebound in sales tax or property tax. We are going to be in a situation where those taxes are going to be low for an extended period of time.
Yet the public expects you to continue the level of service you've always provided. They want clean parks and safe streets. They want all these things, and they don't understand you are working with 20 percent less than before.
Q: What is the hardest part of your job?
A: The part that's always hard of any job is dealing with difficult personnel decisions, like disciplining an employee and trying to set appropriate expectations. That's part of what I'm expected to do. But I don't think anyone enjoys letting someone go or imposing discipline.
Specifically in my role as city manager, the biggest challenge is just balancing everything. It's a big time commitment. You have to be well-organized, and you have to be efficient at time management.
I'm trying to find time in the day and balancing work and personal life. I have a young family, but we live in a small town, and the council has been very understanding. They value that we have personal lives.
We cannot expect people to live their lives at work. When they have family commitments, we need to have some flexibility to meet those needs, because if our employees are getting their personal needs met, they are going to be more happy at work. They are going to be more pleasant, they are going to provide better customer service, and they are going to work harder.
Q: How do you balance work life with family life?
A: While I have my cell phone on, I don't bring work home with me. I'll work late hours, but when I'm home, I'm home with my kids.
My wife understands the time commitments of the job, and she understands there are going to be times and days that she's not going to see me.
But my life isn't my work. I work because I enjoy it and to support my family, but if ever there was a time I thought my work was taking away from my ability to be a good husband or a good father, then I'd have to make changes in my work priorities. Work, for me, will always be second to my family.
Q: What do you like to do with your family?
A: We do a lot of camping. Last summer, we went to Yellowstone. This summer we went up to Lassen Volcanic National Park up in Northern California. Usually we do one big trip, where I'll take a whole week off and we'll go camping for four or five nights.
We do a lot of outdoor things. I go fishing with my son sometimes. I like to spend time going to the local park. My kids enjoy sports, so we spend time at the baseball games and the gymnastics meets.
Q: Being a younger city manager, do you think that affects how you do the job?
A: I think it probably does. I bring a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and a lot of new and innovative ideas.
I think I've shown that I have the skills necessary to do the job. I've built a good reputation and respect, not only internally with our staff, but with the general public and among council members.
It's my style, I think. Relationships are so important in everything that we do. A lot of this job is personal skills and how you deal with people — that you show respect and civility, that you treat people the way you would want to be treated.
But bringing that human side to an organization doesn't mean you don't hold people accountable, because I also believe you need to do both. You need to set clear expectations and demand a lot of your staff, but I think a lot of it is the way that you do it.
Q: Did you grow up in a small town?
A: I grew up in a town you've probably never heard of: Los Osos, which is on the Central Coast near Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo. It's a town of about 14,000 people. It's the same kind of atmosphere as Galt. It's a small town, friendly, you kind of knew everybody. I was born there, raised there and graduated from Morro Bay High School. You start with kids in kindergarten and have the same friends when you graduate high school.
When I was trying to find a place to raise my family, it was important to find a town that's like that. I think the big cities have a lot to offer as far as culture and amenities, but as far as a place to live and raise a family goes, a small town can't be beat.
Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com or read her blog at www.lodinews.com/blogs/citybuzz.
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