Mayor-elect Swearengin begins transition

Fresno's next leader to name adviser team today.

Published online on Monday, Nov. 17, 2008

Ashley Swearengin will have at least three immediate challenges the moment she is sworn in as Fresno's mayor on Jan. 6: protecting the city from effects of the state's yawning budget gap, working with a newly reshaped City Council and deciding which high-level staffers will stay.

Swearengin is expected today to name members of a transition team that will help her meet those challenges.

The team will be headed by Fresno State political science professor David Schecter, who served as her campaign manager, and Ray Steele, former publisher of The Fresno Bee.

"I wanted a group of independent leaders who would help me chart my course for the next six weeks," Swearengin said, "and also help lay the foundations for my first 100 days in office, and the rest of that first year."

The rest of the team will be announced today at City Hall. The group will hold its first meeting at 3:30 p.m. None of the team members is expected to hold positions in City Hall.

"It's a small group of eight to 10 people that I've charged with looking at every aspect of the transition," Swearengin said. "They are trusted advisers who could also give me a lot of volunteer time."

Steele, who retired Oct. 10, said he was excited to have the chance to help ease Swearengin's transition from director of the nonprofit Regional Jobs Initiative.

"As a newspaper publisher, you can't get involved in the process. Now I can," Steele said. "I think she will bring a lot of new ideas, and a lot of energy, into the office of mayor. I wanted to be a part of that."

Steele said he and Schecter would work together to help Swearengin define her priorities, and plan so that she can get right to work once she's sworn in.

"She's a highly ethical person, smart and well organized," Steele said. "She can also be very collaborative, and will work with all segments of the community. Our job, in six weeks, will be to look at what needs to get done, and help set strategic goals."

Swearengin said the top priority for the team will be preparing for the next budget, and how the state's $28 billion budget deficit will affect Fresno's finances. The city has a $17 million reserve.

"There's a glaring hole in the state budget. It's almost unspeakable what we're going to be dealing with," Swearengin said.

Swearengin said another major goal is to ensure that public safety funding is not threatened under legislation that allows the state to borrow money from cities by reducing the share of property taxes that cities receive.

"I think that funding is in jeopardy, and we need to be ready," Swearengin said.

The transition team also will help Swearengin form her staff. During the campaign, Swearengin declined to talk about who on the city staff might stay, and said this week that she still was not ready to name those whom she hoped to keep.

"It's fair to say there are certainly people in City Hall that I want to talk with about staying," Swearengin said. "I plan to focus on defining the functions we want to accomplish, and find people with the skills to fill those functions."

The mayor appoints the city manager, who then hires other city employees. The mayor also controls who is on her staff. Alan Autry has a staff of five, including a deputy mayor and chief of staff.

Swearengin also hopes to improve relations between the mayor's office and the City Council. Two of the seven council members will be new; two others ran against her for mayor and one will serve only a few months before the man he was appointed to temporarily replace returns from military service.

In the past, council members have complained that Autry shut them out of the decision-making process, even on projects in their districts.

Council Member Mike Dages said he thinks Swearengin's ideas will have an immediate impact on City Hall.

"It used to be a very open process, where a council member could talk to city directors and things would get done," Dages said. "I hope that can happen again."

Lee Brand, who will be sworn as the District 6 council member in January, said he thinks the council and mayor will be in sync very quickly.

"It will be a good working council, and she's already reaching out to make sure we work well together," Brand said. "Under Autry, working with the council seemed like an afterthought. I don't see Ashley doing it that way."