The city of Glendale, CA, (pop. 200,167) has been around since 1906. With a population of roughly 200,000, the city spans approximately 30 square miles and has been on a high-growth trajectory for many years.

When Glendale began to de-emphasize new development and focus on other community priorities, City Manager Scott Ochoa seized the opportunity to convert one of the city council’s regular afternoon meetings into once-a-month Work Boot Tuesday. During these meetings, which were previously reserved for development discussions, council members have the opportunity to put “boots on the ground” and see Glendale’s high-performing departments in action.

The newly minted Work Boot Tuesdays serve three purposes:

• The City council can make better decisions by touching, seeing, and even smelling city services and operations, essentially creating a professional development experience for council members.
• Managers and supervisors get to talk about their operations and share the passion, knowledge, and dedication of their teams, which is difficult to convey in a staff report. For Work Boot Tuesday participants Glendale employees become real people working under challenging conditions to serve the community rather than nameless bureaucrats.
• The community, which also participates in Work Boot Tuesdays, is able to see the full spectrum of what Glendale’s local government organization does. While it can be easy for cynics to find fault with the policies set by city council, seeing the work that goes into powering the power plant turbines, interacting with a hostile suspect in a police simulation, or transporting someone suffering a heart attack makes it less easy to be critical.

Instituting Work Book Tuesdays and flipping the script on council meetings creates and reinforces civility, respect, and trust among all stakeholders. Given that each department can only cover only a small portion of its operation during each Tuesday session, City Manager Ochoa plans to continue Work Boot Tuesdays for the foreseeable future to provide the community with a more in-depth experience,. And that works just fine for city council members, residents, and the city’s staff.

Meet the Manager

Scott Ochoa

City Manager

Scott Ochoa was appointed City Manager of the City of Glendale in January 2012. Ochoa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and earned an MPA at the USC School of Public Administration with an emphasis in public sector entrepreneurship. Prior to his current assignment, he served as City Manager for Monrovia, CA from 2004 to 2012 where he began his career as a management analyst. Scott is active in the community he serves, supporting and participating in several community groups including the Glendale Kiwanis Club, Glendale YMCA and Ascencia. He also serves as an adjunct instructor at USC's School of Planning Policy and Development.