City Manager Joyce Wilson apologizes for role in conflict with some City Council members
El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson released the following statement after she received her evaluation from City Council on Tuesday.
I want to thank the Mayor and Council for their continuing vote of confidence and support. I realize that the controversy surrounding the public release of volumes of emails has created an unfortunate distraction from the important work of the city and a regrettable conflict in relationships between myself and some members of City Council, and had the potential to permanently tarnish my career as City Manager. I once again want to publicly apologize for my role in causing this situation. I am committed to doing my very best to rebuild those damaged relationships with the City Council and community and to ensure that this conflict doesn’t adversely impact the community’s overall confidence in its city government and the council/manager form of government in particular.
Even though all our actions surrounding the development of the ballpark project and related agreements were undertaken with only the community’s best interest at heart, the conflict surrounding these decisions did devolve into an erosion of civil discourse over a very important and transformative initiative, and I want to do my part to prevent a future reoccurrence of same. Of the many important lessons recently learned, all citizens are entitled to be heard and treated with respect as are all elected officials regardless of their respective positions on issues. Process and relationships are equally as important as results. I am not the first person to make statements they regretted or wish they could take back, or to not fully appreciate the impact of technology on communications and casual chatter. I am not perfect, even though I recognize that I must be held to a higher standard because of the office I hold.
However, regardless of my personal failings, the public needs to retain its confidence in the organization and leadership and know that this community and organization has been my passion and devotion since taking office in 2004. I am deeply saddened to have created a situation which compromised the City government reputation and for letting the Mayor and Council, the community and my staff down.
2013 will be a year of significant change. I am committed to providing appropriate stewardship and leadership going forward to ensure a smooth relocation of city hall with minimal disruption in customer service, good oversight of the ballpark construction project, a seamless transition of a new Mayor and Council in June 2013 (which is only six months away), and then a thorough process to recruit my successor so there will be no major upheaval or loss of continuity for the future. We also need to successfully launch the Quality of Live bond initiative. The community gave us a huge vote of confidence on election night and we need to make sure that this present conflict doesn’t undermine this extraordinary moment in El Paso’s history.
In closing, I would like to again reaffirm my gratitude to the Mayor and Council for your continued support, and in particular to the Mayor for the manner in which he constructively handled this situation and review. Thank you.
Joyce Wilson
City Manager
