Entering his last two weeks as the City Manager of the City of Falls Church, Wyatt Shields sat down with me to record a session summarizing his 23 years of leadership here. What follows is a transcript of that conversation.

Shields opened by stating: A city is a big, complex human organization and I do believe very much in public service and like to continue to serve.

FCNP:  What do you think contributed to the decision to retire? 

Shields: Well, a couple of personal reasons. The kids are grown up, out of school, and

at a personal level, it felt like a good time to make a change. And I believe that the City Council is in a good position to make a good decision on who the next manager will be. I’m  excited about a lot of the things the city is doing right now and I look forward to seeing how those develop and evolve over time as a citizen, as a resident.

FCNP: What would you say over the course of your time here is the greatest positive achievement that has happened?

Shields: You know, all of the tension that was around the provision of water service and in the Greater Falls Church area, and I think resolving the water disputes with Fairfax County in a way that served our customers well, and served our workforce well. And also help protect the city’s fiscal condition, which was one of our concerns through that whole dispute. I think that the city navigated that well.

Regional partners, Fairfax Water, Fairfax County, and the city, at the end of the day made the best decisions for our ratepayers and for our taxpayers. I’m grateful to Fairfax Water for the great job they do and providing water service. And they also provided jobs for all the city employees that built the water system. So I was very grateful to Chuck Murray and the leadership of Fairfax Water, Phil Allen, Chuck Marino.

And remember we did have the help of a federal mediator. That’s something that I would recommend when there are complex regional disputes. I think having a mediator is a good thing and so I think that was helpful to all the parties. We were able to make the boundary adjustment, getting the 10 additional acres, getting the money we were able to put into the pension fund, 10 million bucks.

FCNP: What would you say are the most promising and the most challenging things that you’re leaving?

Shields: Well, you know, I think we’ve been worried about changes in federal policy. And I think that will continue to be a challenge. In the city of Falls Church, we’ve provided, I believe, great general government and school public education services and so being able to do that in a way that is financially sustainable will always be a challenge for us. And I believe that growth and private investment is an important part of the mix for long-term fiscal sustainability.

FCNP: What do you think about the challenges of the Virginia Village to provide affordable housing?

Shields: I know the evaluation committee is working hard to find some recommendations to the City Council and I think that is a strong move that the City Council and the EDA have made to try to expand access to affordable housing. I look forward to seeing how that develops.

FCNP: It seems like it’s taken a lot of long, long, meetings. But it seems like progress has been rather steady on this and probably gonna result in a fairly universal consensus. Maybe some people are gonna be griping. But I mean there has been the ability of the City Council to  move the ball down the field.

Shields: Well, that’s right. And I think it helps to have a road map, which we articulated back in October, and the Council has essentially followed that road map with some adjustments like when we’ve needed more time, the Council has taken more time. But I think the recession, if you think of that period of 2009 through 2012, that was a big challenge for the organization. And our mantra at that time was to make the necessary decisions, difficult financial decisions so that we could kind of build back better. It was a phrase that was used later, but that was on our minds. We wanted to emerge from the Great Recession in a stronger financial condition. And we went straight from the recession into planning for the City Hall, new library, and new high school – that new high school being the big one.

And so going from the Great Recession to a financial plan to be able to accomplish, you know, $150 million of investment in city facilities, that was a big challenge and I think with a lot of it you think of the period of 2009 through 2012. That was a big challenge for the organization.

FCNP: Coming here in 2003, that’s when you started.

Shields: That’s right.

FCNP: Did you envision anything like what’s become of Falls Church?

Shields: Well, that’s a good question. If you think of what’s changed and what remains the same, I think what’s remained the same is more than what’s changed. What’s remained the same is great. Community activism, great community leadership, great City staff work to help think about change, how to do good planning and then execute on good planning. I think that we had those strengths back in early 2000. And we’ve kept those strengths.

And one thing I think that we’ve done, I believe, is with the development that’s happened in the City. I think that that development has largely reflected community values. So we have a more walkable community, we have more retail options in the community. We have more trees in the community, more tree-lined streets. We got contributions to schools. We got contributions of park land. And so I think the community really shaped what this city became, what development happened. And over the last 20 years, what it looks like. And I think that’s the reason why in large measure, the development that we’ve had in the city is largely accepted.

FCNP: Are there any particular leaders in the community that you would like to single out?

Shields: Well, there’s a lot. I probably won’t single folks out just because I’d leave people out and then I’d feel bad about it.

But I would, you know, I think that’s a key feature of the city; [it’s] the strength of community members who step up and help lead the city. There’s … self government. It is difficult and we’ve had so many great leaders who were able to do that, to treat people with respect, listen and then make decisions after listening. And I’d say also, I think we’ve had really strong staff members who have been able to listen also to what the community said and implement policy.

And programs that reflect what they hear from the community.

Well, I will say this. I mean, authentically the government is complicated. It’s hard work and it’s filled with compromises and you know every decision you make  usually  involves some level of compromise. But no, I leave with no regrets, no regrets. Okay, I’ll go with how Frank Sinatra put it (in “My Way”).

FCNP: Is there any particular thing you’d like to give us as advice, to those who are following you and the city government now that you’re leaving?

Shields: Well, I know that my successor comes to this job with a lot of experience and a great deal of capability. If he were to call and ask for my advice, I’ll always freely give it on any issue that he might have. I don’t know that he’ll do that, but I will always be available.

FCNP:  You weren’t consulted on the selection of the new city manager at all?

Shields: No, it’s the City Council’s decision and I think they ran a really good process. They did a lot of consultation and so I think they made a good decision.

FCNP: So again, just one final question. Compared to when you arrived, how is the City different today? Did anything about the direction it took surprise you, or do you feel it followed a fairly logical course?

Shields: A logical course through the whole process. Clearly, the City struck a very decisive tone in terms of economic development. I would put it significantly ahead of other jurisdictions in this area. I think almost any of them would say, “Yeah, Falls Church really stood out for taking a very aggressive approach to economic development.”

FCNP: Do you concur with that, or do you think it was more of a natural process?

Shields: Well, when I came to the City, the late City Manager Dan McKeever had been hired to help get the City going in that direction. I watched how he did it and worked with people who had worked with Dan at that time.

I think there was political support for that direction, and so we carried it on. We learned a lot as a community and as a staff with each new project, and I think that’s how it evolved.

I think Dan and the City Council at that time felt that, in terms of the long-term vision for fiscal sustainability, there was an opportunity to have development that worked for the community and provided all of those community benefits I mentioned earlier — contributions to school capital costs, affordable housing, streetscape improvements and investment in our sewer infrastructure.

Every one of these projects made significant contributions to infrastructure. They put things in motion, and I think we’ve continued that while trying to constantly learn as we’ve moved forward.

Certainly, I hope that I’ve tried to learn every day. What you learn in a job like this is that you learn about people, because everything we do is about people. People have lots of different views and perspectives.

I think self-government is about finding that balance — listening carefully while also having the capacity to make decisions that move the community in a direction people can understand.

I appreciate the Falls Church News-Press. You are a big figure regionally and here in the City, and the newspaper is a big part of what the City is. I appreciate an independent, free press.

FCNP: Yes, and it’s all about people. People connect through a newspaper.

There was a critical period coming out of the recession and moving into major development, including the West End, the renovation of City Hall and other projects. There had been significant resistance to that kind of economic development in earlier years, including some close votes. That resistance seems to have diminished considerably over the past 15 years or so.

Would you say the City has built confidence in itself?

Shields: I think that’s right. What we see in Falls Church — and what you see in a lot of places — is that when difficult questions are before the public, you need a process where the people making the decisions, the City Council, can have clear proposals, get public reaction to those proposals, listen and then make a decision.

I think you build confidence through a process like that. And that’s what self-government is.

“Editor’s note: This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.”