Changing city culture
It was no April Fool’s joke when Rathdrum’s first city administrator took over almost one year ago.
But since his April 1 hire date, Brett Boyer has earned almost 12 months of experience in the quick-growing North Idaho town, and he has been hard at work helping to transform the city’s government out of its small-town ways.
“I’ve trying to instill in the organization a cultural change to look and plan far ahead,” Boyer said while working in his office at City Hall, with a window that looks over the busy train tracks below. “We’re looking at a more broad picture of what we’re going to do.”
Steps along the path of a growing city might seem small, but each one is another building block, Boyer said. Right away, the administrator formed a personnel department to manage the city’s employees and formed a salary schedule to guide the City Council in designating paychecks to employees.
The city has also tried to become more accountable, with employees filling out new time sheets and the city’s budget displayed in a professional-looking format, complete with spiral binding.
The city also produces an annual report to citizens to keep them informed of how their tax dollars have been spent. “It brings the level of the organization up,” Boyer said.
The city on the plains north of Post Falls has been growing exponentially during the last decade.
Rathdrum has grown 41 percent since 2000, Boyer said, and the population of the city is now 6,800. Last year alone the growth came at 6 percent.
“I don’t know if that’s going to continue, but I think it will continue at a more controlled rate,” Boyer said.
The administrator is assisting the city in its comprehensive plan, which will help the community deal with the influx of people. A priority is keeping areas of open space available for public use.
One of the biggest challenges facing the city is to build a network of parks, trails and facilities, something city residents have been hoping for.
Road repairs also need to be done, and the city needs to increase its water supply storage. The city is also forming a rainy day fund for emergencies.
Boyer has previous experience working as the town manager of Bayfield, Colo., in the Four Corners area. He was hired in Rathdrum to take care of the day-to-day operations of the city. The mayor and City Council couldn’t keep up with the growing needs of the city’s administrative work, he said.
“As part-time elected officials, you just can’t put in that kind of time,” Boyer said.
And so far, Boyer is liking the job, even if it can be difficult at times.
“I’ve enjoyed it a lot here,” he said.