Kirk Bednar, is the city manager of Brentwood, Tennessee.

How did you get your start in local government?

When I was a young child, my father was the city treasurer in our home town of Streator, Illinois. It was an appointed ceremonial position, not a full-time staff position. I remember going around putting out “Elect Ted Bakalar for Mayor” signs because that's who was appointing my dad as city treasurer. I was always interested in history and government, so I went to school and college thinking I might be a lawyer or a history teacher. Then I had a class taught by the manager in the town where I went to college and that is what really intrigued me.

What was your first job in city management?

I did an internship in my hometown during graduate school, but my first job out of graduate school was as a management intern for the city of Fort Worth, Texas. I stayed there for 6 years and then moved to Nashville where I worked for the University of Tennessee MTAS, which is a technical assistance agency within the university. I was there for 5 years. I’ve been with the city of Brentwood for the last 16 years; 12+ years as assistant and 3+ as the manager.
You moved up from being the assistant to the manager in your community. What was that like? 

I had been there long time (over 12 years) so it wasn't a problem for me to know the community and understand the issues. It was just really the different relationship with the governing body. Being the one they go to first as opposed to when you're the assistant, you've got that one person in between you. That was the biggest change, the communication and interaction with the commissioners became much closer.

You went from Fort Worth, which obviously a bigger city, to Brentwood. How was the transition from a large city to a smaller jurisdiction?

The day-to-day part of what you do in a big or smaller city is the same; the issues are the same, some of the problems are the same. On a different scale, of course, but really it's all about people. It’s still about community and what you can do for the people who live in your community. Organizationally it's obviously much easier with a smaller group of people in terms of things like personnel issues. But in local government, it all boils down to the same thing at the end of the day. 

What still makes you excited about your job? 

I don't think I’m unique in my feeling that it’s a job where you have a great impact on the day-to-day lives of your neighbors. Most of us live in the communities we serve, so not only do we work for our neighbors and try to improve their lives, but we're improving our own lives at the same time. I take my family to the same parks that I had a part in developing or building or improving for our community. I think most people get into this job because of the service to others; the ability to improve the communities in which we and people that we serve live. 

Why are you a member of ICMA? 

I don't know why anybody in this field would not be a member of ICMA. (I understand small communities with budget issues.) You’ve got to be a member because for most of us we're the only city manager in the community. One thing is simply the networking and the shared experiences you get when you join ICMA and your state association, too. You get educational support and those types of things. But I think it's really the ability to network and share experiences with folks who are doing the same thing that you're doing in the next community over or in a community 10 states away. It’s the shared experience we have and what we can learn from each other. I also think you cannot under underestimate the value of the ethics of the organization, being part of a profession that abides by a Code of Ethics and what that does. I think that sets us apart from a lot of other high-quality local-government-type professions. We ascribe to a certain standard and hold ourselves and our peers to that standard. And I think that's important.

If you had to list the key qualities that make a local government manager successful, what would those be?

I think one thing is involvement in the civic clubs in our communities. As a Rotarian, the motto is “service above self.” I really think that underlies what we as city managers have to do, too. It's not about us, it's not what we want to do in the community, it's what the community wants to do through its elected officials. I think fundamentally it has to be understanding your role is not to be the one who makes the final decision but to help guide the decision makers. Ultimately you're serving others, so you can't go into it with the ego of I know what's right and so everyone should come along with me. You've got to learn how to bring the community along with you but understand that once decisions are made, you've got to support those decisions. I think it’s really about being humble and understanding your role and supporting the folks who make the decisions.

Do you do anything to encourage the next generation?

That’s an important part of the job. Long ago I thought I was the next generation. Now we're worried about who is the next generation! In our community we have partnered with some other communities and worked through the University of Tennessee to do some shared internships for recent graduates. It’s nice to see a couple of those interns have moved on to permanent assistant positions within the state of Tennessee. In our organization, we're not that big where we have a lot of slots to bring people in and groom them. I wish we could do more, but we do try to participate through the internship opportunities through the University of Tennessee.

Do you have a career highlight that you'd like to mention?

In our community, which is primarily a residential community that focuses heavily on quality of life issues, we've recently spent quite a bit of money to acquire 400 acres for a park in the middle of the community. I was the assistant when we purchased it but have kind of led the effort to master plan and develop the first phase, which we opened about a year ago. It's just a great feeling to take my kids out there to see my name on a plaque. And that's not the reason why it's a great accomplishment. Just to know that in a fast-growing community, that this 400 acres of green space will be there 50 years from now. If my kids stay in the community, they can take their kids to this same park.

Is there anything else you want to talk about?

When you go to a conference, like the ICMA Annual Conference, you still see a lot of middle and older age white guys. But you are seeing more and more women and minorities, and that's the country we live in and that's the face of this profession. The profession has to evolve into this. It’s encouraging for younger people who are considering getting into this profession. I guess the one piece of advice I would offer is, "You have to start somewhere" and most of us started as interns. Do whatever you have to do to get your foot in the door. Again, think about service above self you'll be able to grow into it. People will look for opportunities to find you if you show you're committed to the profession.