[Editor’s Note: City Manager Jerry Fulwood made his formal retirement announcement — likely effective in mid-spring — to the City Council and other City Hall officials behind closed doors on Monday night. When Mr. Fulwood was hired five years ago last June, this story appeared in the Culver City Chamber of Commerce business publication and was written by one of the leading public relations personalities in Southern California.]
They say running a city can be like herding cats, chasing after each City Council member’s pet project and working with different city departments, each wanting to go their own direction, often at odds with each other.
Well, if that is true, new Culver City Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Fulwood is the perfect man for the job.
Over the years, Mr. Fulwood and his family have had dogs, cats, horses, chickens and even a goat. At one point, Mr. Fulwood and his wife, Dana, even ran a full-service pet center in Rancho Cucamonga.
“That taught me all about customer service skills – listening and solving problems,” said Mr. Fulwood, currently the City Manager of La Cañada/Flintridge. “I’ve been in municipal government for 20-plus years, and I still rely on things I learned while running that business.”
Hired by the City Council at its June 2 meeting, Mr. Fulwood will officially assume his new position on July 1, when current CAO Mike Thompson retires.
Breaking a Barrier
Mr. Fulwood will be the city’s first African-American CAO and only the city’s third African-American department head, but he said he isn’t concerned with race or breaking new ground.
“I don’t think about it,” Mr. Fulwood said. “I don’t think about being African-American, and I don’t think about being first. I just don’t think that way. I’m just glad to be part of a team, and I’m looking forward working toward a common goal.
“What’s important is the character of the people work as a team, not their ethnic makeup.”
Selected from a field of more than 40 applicants from throughout the western United States, Mr. Fulwood brings with him some impressive credentials.
A Gentleman of Influence
Last year, he was named the 12th most influential person in the region by the Glendale News-Press for his commitment to remodel the La Cañada/Flintridge City Hall to make it more accessible to visitors and to accelerate the city’s Master Sewer Plan and Downtown Village Specific Plan.
Mr. Fulwood attended the University of California – Riverside where he received a bachelor’s degree in governmental and non-profit accounting and finance. He received his master’s degree in public administration at California State University – San Bernardino.
He also received the Margaret King Gibbs Award for outstanding achievement in public service education at California State University – San Bernardino and was honored as “Up and Coming Administrator of the Year” from American Society of Public Administrators.
Starting Out Softly
Despite his accomplishments, Mr. Fulwood is careful not to come into his new job like a bull in a china shop and said he is likely to make very few changes – at least early on.
“I will be looking at revenue generation and where we can work smarter,” he said. “But this city has done a lot of great things already. Right now, it’s difficult. I’m not on the inside working with everyone yet, but I expect that we will just tweak it here and there. It would be premature for me to say what I will do.”
Mr. Fulwood said No. 1 on his list of priorities is to meet with the members of the City Council one-on-one to assess their goals.
After that, he plans to spend time working with his new executive team and interacting with the city’s employees.
“I will have an open-door policy with the community,” said Mr. Fulwood, who added that he will seek a great deal of input from local residents and business people. “Communication is everything. Listening and being honest and straightforward is very important.”
More Snow
A native New Yorker, Mr. Fulwood came to the West Coast after suffering through a major blizzard in which he and his wife were trapped, snowbound, for two weeks in their lakeside Rhode Island home.
“We headed west to get away from the cold,” said Mr. Fulwood, who had lined up a couple job interviews before leaving. “We were looking for someplace warm. So we drove to Palm Desert. I didn’t know any better.”
When they arrived in the 100-plus degree weather of the desert, Mr. Fulwood stopped at a rest-stop, put on his best three-piece suit and went into the Coachella Valley Water District, leaving his wife sitting in the convertible out front.
Speaking of Informality
“The minute I got in there, they looked at me like I was crazy,” he said. “They said, ‘Take off that tie; take off that jacket; and bring your wife in here right now.”
Mr. Fulwood got the job and subsequently took a middle management position with the city of Rancho Cucamonga. He was promoted to deputy city manager in 1988 and was subsequently hired as city manager before taking the same position in La Cañada/Flintridge in 1998.
“Before I got into municipal government, I thought ‘I don’t want to work for government. Government is where a lot of incompetent people work. I want to stay in the private sector,’” Mr. Fulwood admitted. “But what I have learned is that within the government arena, there are some cities and some special districts that are on the cutting-edge and managing themselves well.
“Culver City is one of them.”