Thirty-year-old Alex Jensen is one of Utah's youngest city managers, but he administers one of Utah's fastest growing cities.
Layton's population has grown from 38,000 to 47,000 since Jensen's appointment in September 1992."You're not going to stop growth," he said. "It's unrealistic just to suggest that. You have to manage it, you have to master plan it. . . . If you manage it properly, you can keep that small-town feel and still encourage businesses to come in."
The City Council offered Jensen the job of city manager late in the night of Sept. 1, 1992, after firing C. Bruce Barton. An independent study showed city employee morale to be low at the time.
"A desire for a new management approach was . . . the primary reason for the decision," the council said in a press release.
Jensen has accommodated the council, replacing 27 staffers and applying his own management style.
"We're lean and mean," he said. "We have one of the lowest ratios of employees to citizens (in the state)."
Older city employees occasionally question Jensen's ability because of his relative youth, but he is confident he is up to the job.
"Someone said, `Better young and learning than old and think you know everything,' " Jensen said. "By luck or miracle or whatever, things have turned out well."
Originally from Mesquite, Nev., Jensen played basketball for Dixie College before moving to Brigham Young University, earning a master's degree in public administration in 1988 while working part-time in Provo city government.
After two years as an administrator in Las Vegas, Jensen took a job as assistant city manager of Layton before being offered city manager. He said he has no regrets.
"The people are open-minded, they're hard workers. . . . I really think that Layton's something special," he said.
Besides managing growth, Jensen said he has the following goals for Layton:
- Involve residents in the decisionmaking process. "In a lot of cities, the city manager is viewed as a hired gun almost," Jensen said. "He comes in, stays a couple of years, then leaves. (But) bottom line is, it's (the residents') city. If we get to the point where we, the hired guns, the technocrats, start thinking we have all the answers, we're in trouble."
- Catch up with the city's crumbling infrastructure. $4.3 million has been earmarked for infrastructure improvements next year.
- Make long-range plans for economic growth, in addition to already-existing population and construction growth plans.
- Lure other types of businesses into Layton besides retailers, especially "clean" manufacturing firms, in part to provide well-paying jobs for people who grew up in Layton and want to stay there.
- Put up road entry signs, beautify the downtown area and otherwise increase community identity. "I want to put Layton on the map a little more."
- Create a mission statement and concrete goals for the city to have a clear direction for growth.