Interim City Manager Steve Cox oozes positivity

Interim Colorado Springs City Manager Steve Cox survived his first week on the job.

Heck, he even enjoyed it.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Gazette today, Cox said he’s hopeful about the future of Colorado Springs and that residents should expect a more positive tone from City Hall.

The only subject he wouldn’t touch was former City Manager Penelope Culbreth-Graft, who this week shocked the city by asking for $105,000 in severance pay even though she quit.

Here are edited excerpts of the interview:

Q: How was the first week on the job? Are you ready to pull your hair out?
A: Well, not yet. It’s actually been encouraging. The people have been very nice. The transition from the Fire Department to the (City Administration Building) has been great. You know, it’s not unlike the Fire Department. It’s just a different set of challenges on a daily basis, so it’s a lot of problem-solving and that kind of activity.

Q: Are there any parallels between fighting fires and running the city?
A: Sure, because there’s always some issue that has to be taken care of right away. I’m not stressed out by “emergency situations,” dealing with issues on a short-term basis and dealing with them quickly. That kind of thing doesn’t stress me out too much.

Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: I don’t sleep good anyway. I think the uncertainty, probably the poor economy and the impact it does have on our ability to provide services. There just aren’t any clear-cut choices or necessarily even some good choices at times. We’d all sleep better if we have a good economy. But, you know, I’m hopeful about that, too. We’re starting to see a few indicators to give us hope.

Q: How do you plan to close a projected $27 million shortfall in 2011?
A: My approach right now is I’m going to broaden the working group that’s (developing) the budget and get a diverse view and really analyze that gap to see where we could trim that down, if we can and where we can. Then on the revenue side of that, we’re hopeful, too. As we get a few more months data, the trend, we hope, will be up.

Q: Penelope Culbreth-Graft wants the city to pay her $105,000. What gives?
A: I can’t comment on that.

Q: Why?
A: I just can’t. It’s not my business, and I’m not in a position to make any comment on it.

Q: What is the morale among city employees?
A: Obviously, we’ve made the cuts that we have made and the morale of those individuals has to be low. I don’t want to discount that. But I think our work force is pretty resilient. I think they’re concerned, I’d say a guarded concern, about what’s going on in their community, but I don’t think that’s any different than the citizens at large.

Q: Who is your favorite council member?
A: (laughs) They’re all my favorite. All nine of them. Every one of them is different, and every one has their own specific areas of interest. My challenge is getting to know those and being able to understand what they want and what they expect out of a city manager in terms of the day-to-day operations and even the long-term goals that they have for the city.

Q: Who is your least favorite council member?
A: (Laughs) I don’t have any least favorites. No, seriously, I think they all have their strengths, and they all add their own unique perspectives to the city government, and I think that’s what makes the whole process great. We would hate to have group think all the time.

Q: You’re not just saying that because they’re your bosses?
A: No. I’m a positive person by nature. I look for the best in everybody.