Most citizens and students can see City Manager Charles Duggan sitting to the side of the council members at the Auburn City Council meetings each month, but Duggan’s over 10 years as city manager began with his days as a student.
“I have an interest in how things work in general,” Duggan said.
Duggan, named city manager by the council in 2006, supervises the different city departments and is charged with carrying out the policies of the city council.
“I’m the bridge between the administration and the policy arms of the government,” Duggan said.
Though Duggan graduated from Auburn with a bachelor’s degree in applied physics in 1990, his interest in government came soon after, while he was in graduate school.
At the University, he took some public administration courses, and he joined the city's parks and recreation department in 1991, his first step to becoming city manager nearly 15 years later.
He transferred into the information technology department in 1998, becoming assistant city manager in 2005 before taking over the city manager position the year after.
Mayor Bill Ham, who’s known Duggan for about 20 years, said he remembers Duggan approaching him about 12 years ago with an interest in learning about the city manager position if an opportunity ever surfaced.
“He ended up being city manager,” Ham said, adding that Duggan’s work ethic made him a good fit for the position. “He’s always willing to expand his horizons and continue to learn more.”
A major part of Duggan’s job, Ham said, involves problem-solving, which means working with people and funding as well as advising the City Council.
Aside from participating in the each month’s council meetings, Duggan said other days of the month come with meetings, emails and time for future planning.
“It’s definitely not a job for someone who likes a lot of routine,” he said. “You need to be very flexible in this position.”
And being the city manager of a college town, Duggan said, presents its own challenges with the “great big influx of brand new adults” that other city managers don’t have to consider each year.
The city has to work with the University schedule, which means planning city development during the summers, ensuring Auburn is a safe place for game-day visitors and seeing that businesses thrive even when students leave for breaks.
“But I can say that, in many ways, I have one of the best college town jobs in the nation because the college administration is so great to work with. The City Council is so great to work with,” Duggan said.
As a college town, the city strives to include student input as it makes future plans, Duggan said.
He and the mayor meet with the SGA president and other students periodically, he said, and a student representative has an allotted time at the council meetings to update council members about University happenings.
Duggan cited the council’s decision to bring Uber back to Auburn as a recent example of considering students’ perspective in making city decisions. The process to reinstate the ride-hailing service in Auburn, he said, would have been slower if the council had not heard students’ desire for the service.
But meeting students’ needs and nonstudent citizens’ wishes can be challenge sometimes, he said.
“It’s constantly trying to strike balance,” Duggan said. “Not everyone is going to agree, but that’s one of the cornerstones of our democracy: everyone gets a say…”
In a college town, a city manager needs to be consistent to be successful, Ward 2 City Councilman Ron Anders said.
“Charlie, he’s the city manager because he’s done things consistent his whole life,” Anders said, adding that Duggan takes his job seriously and methodically. “He’s paid attention to detail.”
And in the end, Duggan said, solving problems making a visible impact on the community is his favorite part of the job.
“Being able to focus on what’s best and not just problems,” Duggan said.
Duggan also welcomed students to get involved in the city and community.
“Our council meetings are open to everyone, and really our office doors are open to everyone,” Duggan said.
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