The City Manager’s Office carries out the Mayor and Council’s policies, priorities and strategic plans, providing professional recommendations to the Mayor and Council and overseeing the day-to-day management of the city. The office provides high-quality strategic leadership and communitywide communication, develops collaborative and empowering relationships with community members and organizations, and procures goods and services for the city’s operations.
In FY16, the office:
- Supported the Mayor and Council’s goal-setting process for the 2015-2019 term.
- Hosted a workshop about the city government for 2015 city election candidates.
- Conducted voter registration drives and public information efforts that maintained the same level of voter turnout between the 2013 and 2015 city elections, despite the continued loss of local media, including the closing of “The Gazette.”
- Televised live coverage of Mayor and Council candidate forums.
- Educated the community about changes to the 2015 Mayor and Council election, including the election to the first four-year terms in the city’s history, the option of early voting, a new voting location and new paper-ballot voting machines.
- Engaged Rockville residents and the business community with their local government through the Rockville Leadership Academy and the Rockville Business Academy.
- Organized, with the Human Rights Commission, programs for students and for adults to promote understanding and appreciation of diversity and inclusion in school communities and neighborhoods.
- Recognized Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the city’s support for refugees through a Mayor and Council proclamation and statement.
- Engaged with the community through the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Lunar New Year celebrations, the Good Neighbor Awards, neighborhood matching grants and a walking town meeting in the Hungerford neighborhood.
- Implemented a water conservation program that replaced 24 inefficient toilets with watersaving toilets in 17 homes of lower-income city residents.
- Engaged state elected officials to promote city priorities, including funding for school construction, renovations to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center, and transportation and pedestrian safety improvements.
- Supported the Mayor and Council’s successful advocacy for an enlarged gymnasium at Richard Montgomery Elementary School No. 5 and opposition to relocating a school bus depot to Rockville neighborhoods.
- Developed and launched a new tracking system for requests for service and improved online service request forms.
- Reorganized the Procurement Division under the City Manager’s Office.
- Engaged minority-, female- and disabled-owned businesses through outreach and technical assistance as part of a new Procurement Division initiative.
- Executed a new three-year agreement with Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) to perform economic development work through FY 2019, including promoting Rockville as a great place to do business.
- Updated the city’s Maryland Public Information Act policies and practices to comply with changes in state law.
- Redesigned the print edition of “Rockville Reports” based on user survey results and feedback from four focus groups.
- Launched a new online edition of “Rockville Reports” that is translatable and mobile friendly to better engage with the community and to take the lead in delivering city news to the community in the face of the continued loss of local media.
- Secured additional funding for Rockville 11 through a cable franchise agreement that allows Rockville 11 to continue its mission of broadcasting live meetings of the Mayor and Council, Planning Commission and other city government bodies.
- Planned the launch of a high-definition (HD) channel for the county’s public, education and government cable channels, in coordination with other Montgomery County municipalities.
Accolades
- No. 1 on Livability.com’s 2016 list of “Best Cities for Families.”
- No. 17 on Livability.com’s 2016 list of “Best Places to Live.”
- No. 4 on Livability.com’s 2015 list of “Best Foodie Cities.”
- No. 7 on Movoto.com’s list of “Best Places Near Washington, D.C. for Young Professionals.”
- No. 6 on Movoto.com’s list of “Best Washington, D.C. Suburbs.”
- No. 29 on NerdWallet.com’s list of “The Most Educated Places in America.”
- No. 7 on GoodCall.com’s list of “Best Cities for Women Entrepreneurs.”