Transparency is a top priority for Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood. Mr. Seewood highlighted the issue during Friday’s state of the city address:
“In our community survey which was completed in December, 46 percent of the residents who responded said they were dissatisfied with how open the city is to public involvement or input from our residents. And for us that’s a real problem as a service organization, because everything we do is for the people that live and work in Columbia,” Mr. Seewood says.
Mr. Seewood also highlighted many positives during state of the city. He praises Thursday’s announcement from United Airlines that they’ll start providing a daily flight to Denver and two daily flights to Chicago O’Hare on September 25. He also touts expansion projects at three major Columbia employers: EquipmentShare, Schneider Electric and Kraft Heinz.
Meantime, Columbia’s city manager says roll carts are a win-win situation for city employees and for residents. Columbia celebrated its one-year anniversary with roll carts in March, and Mr. Seewood discussed the issue during state of the city:
“Not only has automatic collection increased efficiency, it has addressed our top priority: improving working conditions for our employees,” Mr. Seewood says.
And while he doesn’t unveil his proposed budget until later this summer, Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood says retention of the city’s 1,600 employees remains a top priority. Mr. Seewood highlighted the issue during Friday’s state of the city address, and he reiterated it during a press briefing afterward:
“We’re actually in a good space. I mean our employees really are dedicated to the city and they make sure that we operate. And from last year to this year, we’ve seen retention increase. We’ve seen more and more employees actually stay on-board. We’ve been able to hire more employees,” says Seewood.
Mr. Seewood also says he wants to hear from you about what topics the city should focus on in engagement with residents.
