Engineer’s Engineer Prepares To Retire

The man who helped the city of Newark do more with fewer resources is stepping down this week as assistant city manager.

City leaders thanked Dennis Jones for his service at the last City Council meeting of 2010, saying he has been instrumental in helping them manage one of the most difficult economic situations the city has faced in years.

"What you have done for this city is absolutely remarkable," Mayor Dave Smith said at Dec. 9 meeting. "You're an engineer's engineer."

Ever since 2006, when he stepped into the role of assistant city manager, Jones has used his engineer training from San Jose State University to examine Newark's budget challenges and other special projects.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the career change even though it was a challenging four years," Jones said. "It was at that time when we realized the economy was melting down."

Like other city governments struggling with less revenue sources due to the bad economy, Jones watched Newark's budget go from $41 million to a little more than $32 million over the past four years. Along with budget cuts, Jones also saw city positions drop from 300 people to 175 people.

During the Dec. 9 meeting, council members said they appreciated how Jones delivered the bad news on the city's financial situation.

"Crunching those numbers, even though it wasn't pretty, you kept it tight and under control in those difficult times," said Councilmember Ana Apodaca.

Jones also juggled several special projects. Visitors can see evidence of his work as he points out shelves packed with thick white binders and reams of paper stacked on tables and floors.

"See that pile over there? That's the fire merger," Jones said, explaining his role in helping the Newark Fire Department as it was consolidated into the Alameda County Fire Department in May. "I was the primary analyst of all the costs and because of my engineering background, I also reviewed the fire merger contract. It was a rather detailed exercise."

Here's more from our Q/A session with Dennis Jones.

Where did you study? At San Jose State University, I earned my master's and bachelor's degrees in civil engineering.

I am a registered civil engineer.

I cut my teeth in civil engineering by doing land survey work. I am still allowed by the state to sign record documents. After 1981, you had to be a licensed land surveyor to sign those documents and maps. As for old dinosaurs like myself, we were grandfathered in by the state. So one of things I performed for Newark was signing record drawings and I'm happy to continue doing so.

More On Experience. I came to Newark on June 1, 1995 as the public works director. I did that until four years ago when I got this gig as the assistant city manager.

I started off as a junior civil engineer in the city of Fremont in 1973. So my entire career, up until four years ago, was in engineering, in public works. I spent 10 years as the maintenance engineer in Fremont before I came over to Newark.  So I have a strong affinity for maintenance workers. They are the unsung heroes.

What have been your priorities for the last four years? The budget has been my number one priority. It's been the most critical thing because everything flows from the budget. The other priority I have is this organization. The people working here are so valuable.

I have worked as a consulting engineer. So I know what it's like to get service from a public agency.

The quality of the people here and the services we deliver are important to me. The mental health of this organization has been my paramount concern.

What was your strategy in delivering the bad news? I'm a firm believer that you have to deliver the bad news with the same promptness you deliver good news. The city manager probably got very tired of me walking in his office and saying 'I got the sales tax information, the property tax information…' The senior accountant and I would sit down and go over the information.  Then, let John Becker know. Then, we shared the information with the council as quickly as possible.

I think that if I had any successes in delivering financial information is due simply to the fact that they were facts. It wasn't my opinion. I didn't have a perspective other than the fact that this is what the numbers are.

We have, in my opinion, an excellent, top-notch workforce. So, aside from the pain having really good people that you had to lose and then you had to share that with them.  And they really proved that they were gems when they said, 'This must be really hard for you.' They say this when you're sitting there and telling them that they're losing their jobs. It shows that these were great people that you had to lose.

For everything that you are responsible for in the organization, what will the transitional process be like? We're figuring that out. Susie Woodstock, the current maintenance superintendent, will be the new administrative services director. She has the perfect background for that. She's an engineer too. Now they're trying to find a replacement for her in maintenance.

My job will be absorbed by about 70 percent by Susie and the other 30 percent will be absorbed somewhere else in the organization, between the city manager, other department heads and some part-time help. I will do some consulting as part of that part-time help.

Outside of City Hall. I started a team-building program, which was basically lunch in a conference room, playing Trivia Pursuit. You had people reacting to each other as individuals as opposed to that idiot over there in maintenance. Or those engineers who sit over there in that ivory tower. Ultimately, the lunches turned into the entire back room over at Round Table. We ended up with people from public works, information systems, human resources and the city clerk's office. We played Pictionary. We played Trivia Pursuit. We played Bingo. We played Scooby Doo. It was for the mental health of the organization and the way we interact.