Iowa City City Manager Markus says goodbye: A look back on his tenure

IOWA CITY - After half a decade, Tom Markus's time as Iowa City's city manager has come to a close.

With today his final day on the job, Markus soon will be departing from Iowa City to take on a new challenge as the city manager in Lawrence, Kan.

While five years may not sound like a long time, Markus's tenure in Iowa City was spent helping create a framework of plans and the staff that will be a part of the city for years to come.

'When I started, I told the council I'd be here anywhere from five to seven years,” said Markus, now 64. 'My goal was to have a team ready to step in my place when I decided to leave.”

In 2007, then-City Manager Steve Atkins retired after 21 years with the city. Michael Lombardo was hired in 2008 as the new city manager, but he was fired for undisclosed reasons by the Iowa City Council less than a year later, in April 2009.

The city's longtime assistant city manager, Dale Helling, served as interim city manager during the transition periods on both ends of Lombardo's 11-month stint with the city.

In 2010, Iowa City's newly appointed Mayor Matt Hayek and the rest of the council were determined to address a need for stability.

'After a period of flux in the city manager's office, we needed a solid, experienced professional who could bring the operation together and make Iowa City resurgent again,” Hayek said in an email.

It became apparent to officials that Markus, who spent 21 years as city manager of the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, was the right candidate.

On Markus's first day as city manager, Dec. 1, 2010, the city embarked on its annual budgeting session. So his first priority was meeting city employees and creating a road map for staff.

'I think it started to help gel a more focused direction for the city,” Markus recalled. 'Staffs need that, otherwise I don't know how you get someplace if you don't say where you want to go.”

Prepared for the future

As city manager, Markus said he's always enjoyed seeing plans come to fruition.

'I'm a builder at heart, so I like to see some of these projects get accomplished and get the economic development moving,” he said. 'So both in the private sector and in the public sector, I'm proud of the economic development projects that we pursued that have been completed and will be completed long after I'm gone.”

Some notable projects that have occurred during Markus's time with the city include:

l Park@201, a mixed-use 14-story building opened on the pedestrian mall in 2014.

l Last year, work began on the First Avenue Grade Separation Project to lower First Avenue and raise the Iowa Interstate Railroad tracks to create a railroad bridge.

l In about one month, work will begin on the Gateway Project, a flood mitigation project that aims to build a new Park Road Bridge and raise Dubuque Street near the Iowa River.

But growth doesn't come without controversy, and the city received pushback in a few instances. Markus said that comes with the job.

'I've been involved in it for so many years that I expect controversy with it. It's not that it doesn't phase me, I would just view it as part of the process,” he said.

Addressing development, strategic planning and other responsibilities took place at a time when many of the city's department director positions were turning over. Nearly 60 percent of the city's management and supervisory positions turned over through attrition and retirements in his five years with the city.

'The council was pretty clear that we had some major numbers of employees that were eligible and likely to be retiring in a fairly short period of time,” Markus recalled. 'We had to come up with a plan about how we would approach that, not just for that crisis period, but for the period after.”

In addition to filling those seats, Markus also worked to restructure departments where needed and use attrition to make the city more lean and efficient.

'Without the personnel plan in place and the strategic plan in place, it's hard to get to where you want to go if you don't map out where you're going, said Simon Andrew, assistant to the city manager.

A new city manager

While Markus's announcement to take the Lawrence, Kan., position came after a major shift in the Iowa City Council's makeup in November's election, Markus said that change was not a factor in his decision.

However, he did note that a new council majority - which has a more conservative approach to economic development - would benefit from choosing its own city manager.

'I think (the council) picking a new manager and putting their support behind a new manager is a very different thing than me just sticking around and changing the course of direction from necessarily what the course was before, that I was a very big part of,” he said.

On Saturday, Geoff Fruin, assistant to the city manager, officially will be appointed interim city manager and the council will determine within three months whether to pursue a national search for candidates for the city's next city manager.

Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton said those decisions will be made at a later date, but also credited Markus for helping lay the groundwork for whomever is chosen as the next city manager.

'He's been a great help to our council as well,” Throgmorton said. 'He has earned the respect of essentially everyone I've known in Iowa City.”

'We have an exceptional team of employees here and no matter who the next city manager is, he or she will be in a great position to lead,” Fruin said. 'I don't think Tom would be leaving unless he felt Iowa City is in a really good spot and he has put us in a really good spot. I hope he feels good about what he's leaving behind.”