Adam Lenhard is learning the mechanics of the Park City government as he watches how the various departments function. The Park City manager arrived at the Marsac Building in March after a recruitment that stretched through the fall and the winter as the municipal government selected a successor to Matt Dias, who left for the private sector in September. In the nearly three months since becoming the municipal government’s top staffer, Lenhard has delved into the role in a broad fashion. Lenhard has appeared attentive in his first set of Park City Council meetings even as many of the issues thus far have predated him. He said his family vacationed in Park City and he spent the 1997-98 winter working at Park City Mountain. Lenhard described that he is drawn to the lifestyle of a mountain town. He was formerly the city manager of St. George; before that, he was the city manager in Clearfield. His career also includes time at Eagle Mountain. He had some level of familiarity with the Park City government through his work in local government in the state. Lenhard is 47 and living with his family in housing provided by the municipal government in Old Town. In an interview with The Park Record, Lenhard described how he leads rather than addressing the specifics of issues that are currently in front of the municipal government. “I think our goal certainly is to get a little bit better every day. That’s part of my management philosophy, continuous improvement. Let’s get a little bit better every day. I think it’d be irresponsible to come in and say that we couldn’t get better or there weren’t changes to make, and as I’m here longer, more familiar with our community, with its needs, with the skill sets that we have here at City Hall, it’ll make sense where we can improve, where we can be more efficient, where we can serve the community better,” he said. Lenhard said in his short time as the city manager he has seen unspecified “patterns emerging.” “I owe it to the organization, to our staff, to the community, to really take my time evaluating just what’s happening, what’s the lay of the land, but sure, I would expect that there would be changes,” he said. Lenhard said some of the functions of the municipal government resemble those of his previous stops. “There’s a lot of overlap in, in terms of what Park City offers or contains with its departments, with its staffing areas of responsibility compared to, you know, St. George, Clearfield, even Eagle Mountain,” he said. But Lenhard also described Park City as “unique in many ways.” He pointed to the transit system as an example. The buses have long been seen as an important step as leaders attempt to reduce traffic. “I think what we see here is that it’s a priority for our community, and so we invest in it, and it is a huge part of our organization,” he said. Lenhard also mentioned the sustainability efforts. “That’s another one that I look at, and I think the city structure should reflect our community values,” he said, adding, “Park City owns over 6,000 acres of open space that’s been set aside and protected permanently for conservation. I think that’s a reflection of our community’s values. The fact that we have a sustainability department, to me, I think is a huge asset to our organization, to our community.” The city manager, meanwhile, addressed the possibilities artificial intelligence could offer the municipal government. “We are in a very rapidly changing technological era. AI is here,” he said, adding, “People have feelings about AI, right or wrong, whether you love it or you hate it. It is here, and I do see, going forward, some restructuring that would place an emphasis on innovation efficiency and, you know, some component of that would be AI.” He continued: “It’s going to happen with or without us. We should be at the forefront of that, utilizing that in a way that is productive and helps us provide better service.” Lenhard spoke about the potential role artificial intelligence could play in everyday duties. “I don’t even think we know what capabilities yet we’re going to gain on AI, what efficiencies. But … one thing that I’m looking at since my first day here, I’m absolutely buried in administrative tasks. The emails never stop, they never stop … I could look up in my Outlook account, I could tell you exactly how many emails I’ve gotten over two months. It’s an incredible administrative burden,” he said. “It’s the same way for all of my staff: We’re crushed. It is a nonstop, just never-ending crush of emails and administrative tasks and things to do.” If certain administrative tasks could be automated, he said, municipal staffers could have more time to work directly with residents. “Customer service is something that we’re talking a lot about internally, but I think we can and should be looking for efficiencies and opportunities, if nothing else, to offset that administrative load,” he said. The post Park City manager wants government to improve every day; ‘should reflect our community values’ appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less