On Monday, Dec. 1, city of Sedona staff said “good-bye” to their City Manager Eric Levitt.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Levitt and his family took off for the long drive to Janesville, Wis., where Levitt will start as Janesville’s city manager Wednesday, Dec. 17.
After 12 years with Sedona and seven and a half years as city manager, Levitt decided it was time to move on professionally.
By Alison Ecklund
Larson Newspapers
On Monday, Dec. 1, city of Sedona staff said “good-bye” to their City Manager Eric Levitt.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Levitt and his family took off for the long drive to Janesville, Wis., where Levitt will start as Janesville’s city manager Wednesday, Dec. 17.
After 12 years with Sedona and seven and a half years as city manager, Levitt decided it was time to move on professionally.
On Oct. 2 he gave his verbal resignation to Sedona after signing a contract with Janesville.
“People ask me what I’ll miss the most,” Levitt said during his last week in Sedona. “It’s the people.”
Levitt has been able to work with the large variety of people that Sedona attracts, and it’s working with them that he’ll miss the most.
Besides the people, another thing Levitt enjoyed during his tenure in Sedona was the passion.
“The passion people bring to Sedona and the challenge that presents,” was one of the
things he liked best, he said. “People care what’s going on.”
The passion in city affairs is good, Levitt said, but as with any city government, everything isn’t always rosy.
When pushed to respond, Levitt finally admits there is something that frustrates him from time to time.
“Sometimes what I see is people who are very passionate in the local government here personalize things too much,” Levitt said. “I think that’s unfortunate because sometimes it stops people from coming together and working through issues in a positive way.”
Levitt looks forward to a new set of challenges in Janesville and adapting to his role of city manager of a much larger city. Janesville’s population is 60,000.
During his time in Sedona, Levitt grew as city manager, he said, and learned to trust his staff to do their best.
Instead of micromanaging, Levitt was “able to trust people to do what they can do,” he said.
He is also proud of ways he used creativity to bring financial funds to Sedona like earmarks and federal funds from Congress.
Because of Sedona’s “unique situation,” the city was able to receive funding that it normally wouldn’t have been able to get, he said.
On Oct. 28, Sedona City Council appointed Assistant City Manager Alison Zelms to act as interim city manager starting Wednesday, Dec. 3, until the position is filled.
On Nov. 25, council approved to hire the professional recruiting firm Peckham & McKenney for $16,500, plus expenses not to exceed $6,500, to find a new city manager.
Alison Ecklund can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or e-mail
aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com
