New city manager calls career in public service 'most noble of professions'

Although she doesn’t start her new job as the next Sarasota city manager until May 29, Karie Friling has paid several visits since being selected by the City Commission on Feb. 27. She most recently attended a Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations meeting and made a brief appearance in the meeting chamber during the commission’s May 4 meeting.

Between closing out her time as executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Illinois, planning for a daughter’s graduation, searching for a place to live here and planning a move, she has been busy the last seven weeks. Still, she took some time to talk with the Observer about her past, present and future professional aspirations as she prepares to assume her new role. Following are edited excerpts from that conversation.

How did you get your start in public service?

I was born in a very small town of very humble roots. My father was a carpenter, and we lived in a trailer home. We ended up settling in Peoria, Illinois, where I graduated from high school and went away to college. As I was getting my master's in public administration, there was an opportunity to be an intern. And lo and behold, guess where it was? Peoria.

That was my start of my public service career on May 31 of 1994 in my hometown where I graduated high school, and I was able to stay there and work my way up to economic development director, which was an honor to be able to serve my hometown.

Why did you move to the Chicago area?

I was in Peoria for well over a decade, and then I was recruited to come up to Orland Park, which is the southwest hub of the Chicago region. They were really struggling with some customer service and internal cultural issues in a rapidly growing community. They took all these siloed departments that weren't working well together and they said, ‘We're going to bring in a new director, and we're going to create one large super-mega department,’ and it was my job to lead that department. I did that for 13 years, and it was just a great place to raise my kids. 

As part of the hiring process here you had conversations with city senior staff. What are your impressions on what you've seen?

I know that it's been a long transition with interims, and I can only imagine the stress of that. As to the organization, I was very impressed. I got in a day early because I wanted to spend some time by myself, just driving through the neighborhoods and really seeing the city through a different eye, and not as a tourist visiting. 

I did have an opportunity to meet with a lot of the staff early in that morning, and I told them if I could spend my whole day with you, I would love to just be able to sit across the table and chat with all of you because I know I have a lot to learn. My takeaways from the staff perspective is we have some really great people. They're really committed to their jobs. Some of them have very long tenure. That speaks very well to an organization. I also got the sense that they really were anxious to get this position filled, to have some stability. So I'm looking forward to being able to provide that. 

Photo by Andrew Warfield

You attended a recent CCNA meeting. But during the interview process you also spent time touring the city. What were your takeaways from that?

There’s no doubt that there's enormous amount of civic pride in Sarasota, the culture and just the variety and diversity in the neighborhoods. Going in I wasn't sure if it would be a good match. You never want to go someplace where it's going to be not a good match, but I left there feeling like, yeah, this could be home.

Sarasota has a large number of retirees who were successful professionals, which means they bring a lot of intellectual capital and they like to be involved. How do you regard tapping into those resources?

Being able to bring their expertise into the various committees that the board has already set up and some of the big issues you're dealing with, I think that they should be seen as a resource. That doesn't mean that every single time we're going to see eye-to-eye on things, but my door is always open to that. It’s really about listening and understanding the lens that they see something through, and the fact that we do have so many of them I think is something that's unique, because a lot of communities don't have that. 

What do you see as Sarasota's niche in the central Gulf Coast region? 

Sarasota has a nationally recognized, I would even say international, reputation because you get such high rankings on your beaches. I think your niche is you're always going to be a tourism attraction. You get a lot of revenue off of that, and that’s not a bad thing. But we are an aging country, and what we have to do is figure out what’s right for the next generation that's coming behind. I’m going to want to dig a little bit deeper with the economic development organizations to find what, besides tourism, is your core business model? Where are your jobs coming from besides that? 

And what do you think so far?

I know health care is a driver, so I'm going to be curious to listen and learn more about that. You are also known as a cultural gem, and you have so many cultural resources there. And I know that there's been a lot of conversation about the performing arts center that's being proposed, and I don't know enough to give you what my opinion is on that yet.

What are your thoughts about the affordable housing efforts and efforts to grow that in the within the city?

I support 100% whatever I can do to help that happen. It's not just needed there, it's needed everywhere. But I have a lot of experience in affordable housing, and I also have a lot of experience with some people who don't want affordable housing in their backyard.

I believe that we must have mixed-income housing. I believe in affordable housing. I believe there is a role for government in that. And I think that when there is a gap that needs to be filled that can't be done by the private sector — or even by HUD or the federal government — that there is a responsibility at the local level to try to figure out how to help because those are our residents, and we want them to be able to afford to live in our beautiful city.

Hiring for such positions in Florida is a very public process, How did your current employer feel about you traveling here for the finalists interview process?

I went into my president's office, Daniel Hebreard, and we talked it through. I was on the fence, and I said, “I love it here.” And he said, “We love you. We don't want you to leave, but if you don't go down there and do this, you're going to regret it, and you're going to always wonder, what if.” It was because of my current boss who encouraged me. That speaks a lot to the organization there, too, which I'm going to miss greatly as well.

You have said Sarasota is an ideal place for you to conclude your career. Looking back, how do you feel about your life dedicated to public service?

I've experienced a lot of things in three decades of being a public servant. I think it is the most noble of professions. I know a lot of people don't agree with that, but I will believe that until the day I die.