May 17, 2007

City council appoints new city manager

Debra Figone named to replace Les White

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

San Jose has a new city manager who will take over the position on July 23. Debra Figone will replace interim City Manager Les White, who has served in the position since Jan. 31, 2006.

“Debra Figone brings a distinguished track record of leadership and expertise to the position of city manager,” said Mayor Chuck Reed at the press conference announcing the new appointment. “She has deep roots in our community, deep knowledge of San Jose and the issues we face, and a personal commitment to honesty, fiscal responsibility and open-government. We are delighted she is returning to serve her hometown.”

Debra Figone

Figone, who lives in the Rose Garden area, worked for San Jose as assistant city manager from 1995 to November 2000, when she was appointed town manager for Los Gatos, where she currently works. At city hall, she will oversee and manage the city’s day-to-day operations along with its departments: police, fire, the airport, public works, planning, building and code enforcement, environmental services, housing, the library and others. The city manager’s office directs development and implementation of the city’s operating and capital budgets totaling about $3.2 billion each year.

She has spent her entire career in public service with the bulk of her work in San Jose government. She started working for San Jose in 1969 in a part time job as a recreation aide when she was a junior in high school, and worked her way up to becoming the city’s first female head of a maintenance department—director of emergency services—and to acting deputy city manager under Regina Williams, the city’s first female city manager. She also spent four years as assistant town manager for Los Gatos from 1986 through 1990.

“This is a unique opportunity for me,” Figone told the Times in a phone interview. “I can’t say I’m surprised, because I competed in a very rigorous process. I am happy working in Los Gatos and didn’t expect to start a new chapter in my life. I came to the conclusion that it would be a good time in my life to put my professional experience back to work in my home town.”

“I am honored that the mayor and city council have offered this opportunity to serve my hometown as city manager,” Figone said at the press conference. “Given my professional experience, my passion for public service and my love for San Jose as my former employer of 27 years and as my hometown, I am committed to helping make a difference for the city and its residents.”

Assistant city manager
As an assistant city manager for San Jose, Figone was responsible for day-to-day oversight and management of all city departments.

She received her bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts and sciences and a master of public administration degree from San Jose State University. She currently is completing a masters in communication studies at San Jose Sate. She attended the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for senior executives in state and local government and is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley as well as a member of the International City/County Management Association.

After graduation from San Jose State, she worked full time as a neighborhood center director from 1976-79 and then became an analyst and worked in human resources and the budget office until 1986. From 1990-92, she was assistant director of the General Services Department and in 1992 became acting director of emergency services. Shortly after that, she was named director of emergency services.

Figone has been married to Allen Figone, an artist, for 33 years and has a daughter Lisa, who is a graduate of UC Davis and currently works for Google.

Rigorous process
Although the city would not announce the names or number of other candidates, the mayor’s office released the details of the selection process. After a consultant was hired last fall for a national search, city officials sought feedback from a number of groups including city council members, neighborhood associations, business, labor, nonprofits, faith organizations and city employees.

The process included five community meetings throughout the city, three employee meetings, one-on-one meetings with the mayor and city council members, a meeting with the San Jose Labor Alliance, two meetings with community leaders, an online employee survey and a community survey in English, Spanish and Vietnamese,
Taking the data gleaned from these meetings, the consultant prepared a profile of the ideal candidate including skills, character and experience as well as council needs and requirements. The finalists were interviewed by three panels, which included a cross section to represent the diverse neighborhoods, businesses, labor and other groups that make up San Jose.

Panelists included Pete Furman, the mayor’s chief of staff; San Jose/Silicon Valley President and CEO Pat Dando; police union President Bobby Lopez and interim city manager Les White. The city council was represented by Reed and council members Judy Chirco, Pete Constant, Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo.

White ends second term
White has been San Jose’s city manager for two terms from 1989 to 1995 and again starting in Jan. 31, 2006 when he took over from departing city manager Del Borgsdorf.

He also served as Fullerton city manager and assistant city manager in Fresno, San Jose and Fullerton. He held various staff positions in redevelopment and public works, and as a department head in Anaheim. Since leaving San Jose in 1995, White served in interim local government leadership positions in Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Pittsburg and Seaside.

White has also done considerable consulting work, including providing executive coaching and evaluations to several California cities and nonprofit organizations.

In local government, he developed and implemented crime prevention/neighborhood improvement programs including beautification, local conservation corps and public works projects and helped develop strategies to empower local citizen groups in those neighborhoods. He also negotiated redevelopment, major development and labor agreements and major contracts for services. He has worked on reorganizations of virtually all major functions of local government and developed budget policies, budget forecasting models, and provided direction for major budget reductions in two cities.