Johnson takes the Helm

Donald E Johnson has always wanted the title of City Manager and now he has it. Working as interim City Manager has proved to everyone that he has the right stuff to get the job done!  Since the beginning of his employment in Royal Oak, he has been actively involved in labor contract negotiations, commission action, community relations, local and regional activities, and has done and outstanding job with managing and assessing the City's financial status.

Aware of the frustration stemming from people doing business with City Hall, one of the first changes to improve matters is adding additional hours for City Hall to be open to the public. Currently, City Hall service counters are open 32 hours a week, but starting August 3 they will be available 38 hours a week.

Although there are fewer staff people, the customer service counters will be open during noon to 1 p.m. when it was previously closed. The unpaid staff lunch hour has been reduced from one hour down to 30 minutes and employees will cover the counters while they take turns  staggering the lunch break.

City Manager Johnson has also attacked the City's business licensing process for new and existing businesses in Royal Oak. The old process had huge amounts of wasted time, mostly from the flow of paperwork which spends too much time on people's desks waiting for action. A project for business process review was initiated and hopefully will prove to be successful in reducing the amount of time it takes for businesses to complete the entire process.

"There are many procedures we can improve through the same review and evaluation process". says Johnson, "I look forward to making many more improvements!". Royal Oak is a great City and I am proud to be at the helm!