Brett T. Channing is the assistant to the city manager of El Cajon, California.

What led you to local government?

My dad is a city manager. Growing up, I fought it for a while. As an undergrad, I majored in political science but I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I liked some of the theories of government but politics didn’t really interest me too much, so I thought I might go into law. I was in the process of applying to law schools when my dad and I had a long conversation about working for local government. It did intrigue me and I always really liked some of the attributes of his job. He encouraged me to apply for an MPA program as well as law school and make a decision from there. I got into USC's MPA program and figured I'd give it a shot. Once I started studying public administration, I liked it. As an intern for a city in the Los Angeles area, one of the things that intrigued me the most was the fact I can make a difference in a community, whereas at the state or federal level of government, it might be a little bit harder to see the impact that you're making.

That internship that you mentioned in the LA area, was that a big community?

Well, for Los Angeles, not really; it was about 60,000 people. I know for a lot of the country that's a pretty big city, however. With my dad being a city manager, I already knew more about what the city management profession was and how local government functions than the average college-aged kid. So, working in a city government environment kind of came naturally to me because I grew up with it, I was embedded in it from childhood. But early in my career through my internships, I was able to learn more of the intricacies of local government—different departments and what they do, how decisions are made, etc. Also, I was fortunate to have had a really good mentors as city managers who showed me the ropes and took the time to invest in me.

So compared to your work now in El Cajon, were the challenges very different?

Yes, I would say so. El Cajon is a very diverse city and has a lower socioeconomic status than some of the communities I worked for previously in Los Angeles and Orange counties. In some of my other communities, our work was kind of no big deal or almost expected by some of the residents. In El Cajon, our community members are so appreciative of even the small things we do, which is refreshing. As I said, something I really like about local government is you can make a difference. But many times you don't necessarily get feedback that you are making a difference; all you hear are negative comments or complaints. Being in an environment where we are getting positive feedback from the community, expressing that what we’re doing is actually improving their lifestyle and their community, is extremely fulfilling and gets me excited to go to work every day.

What are some other challenges you’ve faced in your career?

When the recession was bad, we had some budgetary challenges in the cities I worked with, and we did some reorganizations to adjust. Maintaining morale as we made these changes was a big challenge. Dealing with some of the politics and politicians also impacted morale and continuity. In one of my jobs, over the course of two years we had three different city managers because of the tough political climate there. This turnover really impacted the organization’s morale.

Did you take anything away from those experiences in terms of how you might confront those kinds of issues if they come up during your career?

Yes. I think one of the biggest things I learned is how important it is to notify and keep your employees in the loop on certain things going on within the organization and within the city. Obviously there are many confidential items that can’t be discussed with employees, but many times we get so caught up in our day-to-day activities, we forget that other employees don’t know all the important items going on within the city that we in the City Manager’s Office are privy to. The more you communicate with your staff, they'll start to understand and (hopefully) trust you. Involving employees in decision-making and getting buy-in is really important, especially when you're going through big and important changes.

What would you tell someone thinking about entering the profession?

I would tell people that if you want to get into a business where you're not doing the same thing every single day, and if you want to feel like you're having an impact, then this is the profession for you.

I love the fact that every day I go to work and I’m doing something different; it's never the same thing. You think things are calm for a minute and you know where your day is headed, and then just like that, you’re going in a completely different direction. I think that’s fun and exciting.

Some of my recommendations and projects can really transform the community. If someone has a desire to make a difference in other people's eyes (and make a decent living at the same time), local government might be the right career choice.

How about those early in their careers?

Volunteer as much as you can. The more experience you can get, the better. Be the “yes man” to everything. For instance, if a council member comes up with some crazy project that no one wants to take on, raise your hand and say, “I'll do that.” For me, early on I feel like volunteering for anything I could helped me out because I was getting experience in different aspects of the profession that I had no prior experience in whatsoever. Even though it was almost “trial by fire,” I learned and I learned quickly. These experiences have been invaluable for me as I’ve worked my way up through local government.

I’d also suggest that you reach out and get a good mentor or two. Find those who are willing to invest in you and provide helpful feedback. They can give you great, unbiased advice, help you find out how to improve your skill sets, and really provide you with an example of how to successfully lead a municipality. I was fortunate to have several city managers who have been and continue to be mentors to me. I’ve always greatly appreciated their time investment in me and their advice is truly invaluable.

Do you have a career highlight you’d like to share?

I’ve helped launch new websites for two cities. The older websites did not foster communication or transparency with the public. We just launched our new website for El Cajon about a year ago and I'm really proud of the way it turned out. It helps our community appear as cutting-edge, a place where people would want to live and be proud of.

I’ve also been the project manager of a few construction projects within El Cajon. I oversaw a brand new playground in a community park that serves an underprivileged part of town. The nearby residents, families, and children were all so very excited to play and experience the new playgrounds. I could tell that it really made them happy and it would be a place where they would build special, life-time memories. This has been in conjunction with a brand new, $10 million animal shelter for the community. The previous shelter was 50 years old and in desperate need of replacement. The new, state-of-the-art animal shelter is something the community has been requesting for many years, and I have been very proud to be a part of developing and building that shelter.

I’m also proud of the work we did when I was with the city of Brea to collaborate with neighboring cities for service delivery. We met as a committee and were able to come up with joint agreements between multiple cities on services such as street light maintenance, janitorial services, fire command staff, and others, saving the participating cities tens of thousands of dollars. One collaborative project in particular dealt with the police department, where we were looking at sharing our dispatch services. That’s a long-term process that has the potential to save everyone significant money. The collaboration among the six cities is something we were proud of and it was a very innovative process that achieved some phenomenal results.

What do you value about your participation in ICMA and Cal-ICMA?

They provide different perspectives. Obviously, California is a large state and it has very specific issues that most of the rest of the country are not dealing with. So being a part of Cal-ICMA and going to events, being on calls and webinars that Cal-ICMA puts on, etc., is really helpful for those specific issues that California cities are facing. Being a part of ICMA is also really helpful because you get a broader perspective on certain issues that maybe we aren’t dealing with in California right now—ones that we know we may face in the future and ones that we aren’t even anticipating.

Sometimes in our states, we can get caught in a bubble. Being able to talk with other managers throughout the country is really valuable and can be eye-opening. I like hearing about the different perspectives they have on typical issues local governments face and how they're dealing with them.

Are there any specific ICMA resources you use that you’d recommend for others?

There have been several times that I’ve worked on a project or tried to solve an issue, and I’ve turned to ICMA for resources or publications. Cal-ICMA has a listserv that's always been very helpful as well.

Going to the annual conference has made a big difference. I can’t say that I’ve had a huge epiphany while listening to a speaker or session panel, but I think over the years, I’ve picked up little things here and there that become ingrained in the way I lead and help my community.