New city manager settles in during unsettling times | From the Roundtable

For more than 20 years, Columbia fell under the aegis of two city managers, both of them more or less homegrown with many years of residence under belt as they worked their way up to this important position. Unlike several predecessors, Ray Beck and Bill Watkins earned the respect of the city councils they served as successful city administrators with no noticeable bumps along the way to derail their careers.

Now Columbia has a new city manager, Mike Matthes, and both he and various constituencies of the city are breaking one another in for a term that could be as long or as short as either side wishes it to be. With the budget deadline looming, Matthes must have the absorbency of a huge sponge cramming up on everything there is to know about administering the city.
Matthes has been appearing at various functions more than eclipsing gossip leveled by the “tut-tut” crowd that was miffed by his no-show at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner last month. Get over it. The score’s more than evened by his regularly scheduled “office hour” opportunities to meet with the public.
Of course, there will always be questions.
What are the City Council and the community looking for in our new city manager? Do we want an active manager like his predecessors or a less visible administrator who works quietly but competently behind the scenes? Then there are matters of balance and relative power to consider — such as city manager versus mayor and the council — now with a strong mayor on board and a City Council that’s become more conservative.
Columbia city managers used to strike me as technicians, individuals with a far lower public profile who were trained to administer the affairs of a smaller, far less complicated municipality. What we learned was largely conveyed to us in print, covered by beat reporters, and supplemented by shorter pieces on KFRU and KOMU-TV. Opportunities for “face time” were far more limited, generally ginned up only when the City Council and its manager were sparring over a controversy such as cable television. Then came the evolution of talk radio. Both Watkins and Beck eventually expanded their media activity to include regularly scheduled radio interviews, a tradition we assume Matthes will continue.
Score a big one for Matthes, who’s solidly on board with the business and university communities, for realizing the importance of red hot issue No 1: Columbia Regional Airport. Now comes word of the appointment of a shock force group of citizens to tackle the airport service issue head on via a regional operating authority and guaranteed subsidization of air service to other hubs with international connections.
Finally, here’s a cautionary caveat for the business community. Like a sponge, Matthes will be absorbing a cornucopia of comments from those with whom he holds court. Given Columbia’s diversity and the overarching presence of various special interest groups, Matthes might soon be overwhelmed by the tonnage of lobbying. Their combined wattage could drown out the business community.
Reluctant as they may be about mixing it up and getting involved with municipal matters, business people should make it a point to regularly visit with Matthes. We need to encourage and support him while he wrestles with the budget during what might be some rough times ahead financially for our community.