Moving Beloit Forward Together: A Message from the City Manager to Our Community and City Employees

Dear Beloit Community Members and City Employees,

Over the past several weeks, there has been considerable public discussion about staffing, public safety, leadership, and the challenges facing the City of Beloit. These are important conversations, and our residents, businesses, employees, and City Council deserve transparency about the challenges we face, the work underway to address them, and the values that guide us as we move forward.

Transparency, however, does not always mean that every fact or circumstance can be discussed publicly. As a public employer, the City has legal and ethical responsibilities to protect certain personnel information, respect employee rights, preserve the integrity of investigations and labor processes, and maintain confidentiality when required by law. There will be times when City leadership has information or context that cannot appropriately be shared publicly. Our inability to publicly respond to a particular allegation, statement, or characterization should not automatically be interpreted as confirmation that it is accurate or that the City is unwilling to address it.

As City Manager, I believe it is important to acknowledge challenges when they exist, provide as much factual information and context as we responsibly can, support the people who serve our community, hold ourselves accountable for improving the organization, and ensure that public discussion remains grounded in facts and respectful of the people involved.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Chief Executives Meeting and spend time with municipal leaders from across Wisconsin. One thing was clear: many of the challenges we face in Beloit, including workforce shortages, increasing service demands, aging infrastructure, limited resources, and the need to adapt our organizations to changing expectations, are not unique to our community.

That does not diminish our responsibility to address them. If anything, it reinforces the importance of doing so thoughtfully, transparently, and with determination.

As City Manager, I have a responsibility to support our department leaders and every employee who serves this community. Support takes many forms. It means encouragement and providing employees the tools they need to succeed. It also means removing organizational roadblocks, asking difficult questions, establishing clear expectations, and holding ourselves accountable when we need to improve.

I am also an ICMA-Credentialed Manager. The ICMA Code of Ethics and the Government Finance Officers Association Code of Professional Ethics are displayed in my office because they serve as daily reminders that serving as a professional city manager carries responsibilities that extend well beyond managing the day-to-day operations of an organization. Those responsibilities include integrity, transparency, professional management, equitable service, responsible stewardship of public resources, and, above all, a commitment to the people and community we serve.

Sometimes that responsibility requires publicly acknowledging where our organization is struggling.

Beloit is facing real organizational capacity challenges.

Our leadership recognizes them. Our employees continue to provide important services despite them. And we are working simultaneously to address immediate operational needs and the longer-term organizational issues that cannot be solved overnight.

There is no single explanation for the staffing challenges facing the City.

Employees leave organizations for many reasons. Some pursue professional advancement, educational opportunities, different careers, or opportunities that better fit the needs of their families. We should celebrate employees who grow professionally, and while we hope talented employees choose to continue serving Beloit, we also recognize that people will make decisions that are right for themselves and their families.

We must also be willing to examine the things within our control.

Public organizations change. Community expectations evolve. Resources change. Priorities change. New employees and new leaders bring different experiences, ask different questions, and sometimes challenge practices that have existed for years. That can be uncomfortable. Meaningful organizational change often is.

Our responsibility is not to avoid that discomfort. It is to listen, learn, distinguish between what is working and what needs to change, and continue moving the organization forward.

Our Police Department

The challenges facing the Beloit Police Department understandably receive significant public attention because public safety is one of the most important responsibilities of local government.

When the City undertook the recruitment of its next Police Chief, it sought a collaborative and transformational leader capable of developing employees, navigating organizational change, strengthening community relationships, and continuing Beloit's commitment to community-oriented policing.

Chief Schonella Stewart assumed that responsibility during a particularly challenging period for the organization. She inherited significant staffing and resource challenges while simultaneously having to learn a new department, organization, and community.

Leadership transitions require time. A new leader must understand an organization's people, culture, history, operations, relationships, strengths, and weaknesses before sustainable change can occur.

During that transition, Chief Stewart has made Beloit her home and devoted significant time and energy to the department and this community, including evenings and weekends. She has approached a difficult assignment with professionalism and a commitment to moving the organization forward.

We should also remember that Beloit has an organizational history from which we can continue to learn. More than a decade ago, an independent assessment of the Police Department identified the need for significant organizational reform involving leadership, supervision, accountability, communication, community-oriented policing, and other areas. The work that followed helped shape many of the principles that continue to guide the department today.

That history also reminds us that organizational improvement is never a single event or the responsibility of a single person. It requires sustained effort, strong leadership, accountability, openness to change, and a willingness to continually evaluate how we serve our community.

Listening, Learning, and Engaging Directly

During my first two months as City Manager, I have made it a priority to better understand the Police Department, its employees, and the challenges they face through direct engagement.

I have participated in a ride-along with our officers, observed shift briefings, spent time speaking with officers and community members at National Night Out, and had numerous conversations with Chief Stewart and members of the department's leadership team. I have also met directly with leadership of our police officers' labor group and its business representative to hear their perspectives, concerns, and ideas for moving forward.

Chief Stewart has similarly prioritized direct communication with employees. Early in her tenure, she extended an open invitation for officers to meet with her individually to share their perspectives, concerns, and ideas directly. Several officers accepted that invitation and met with her one-on-one. Creating opportunities for employees to communicate directly with leadership is an important part of listening, building trust, understanding different perspectives, and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Those conversations matter. They provide perspectives that cannot be gained solely from reports, statistics, emails, or meetings in City Hall. They have allowed me to listen directly to the people doing the work, better understand the realities they experience, ask questions, and identify areas where City leadership can help remove barriers and support the department.

We will not always agree on every issue or on every approach. That is neither unusual nor unhealthy. What has been clear through these conversations is a shared interest in the future of the Beloit Police Department, the well-being of the people who serve within it, and our responsibility to provide quality public safety services to this community.

Chief Stewart and her leadership team, our officers and their labor representatives, Human Resources, City Management, and our regional partners each have important roles to play. We are committed to working collaboratively, communicating openly, addressing challenges constructively, and focusing our energy on the work ahead.

There is more work to do, but I am encouraged by the willingness I have seen to engage in those conversations and work together toward a stronger future for the department and the community it serves.

Staffing Challenges Extend Beyond One Department

Yes, members of our Police Department have left the organization for other opportunities. Those departures matter, and we take them seriously.

But staffing challenges are not isolated to the Police Department.

Our Public Works Department has experienced an even greater number of employee departures during this period, and other departments throughout the City are experiencing difficult-to-fill positions, limited organizational capacity, and increasing demands upon existing employees.

That does not make the Police Department's staffing challenges less important. It provides necessary context. Beloit is confronting a broader workforce and organizational capacity challenge that requires a citywide response.

We have to recruit effectively. We have to retain talented employees. We have to develop supervisors and future leaders. We have to examine workloads, compensation, technology, equipment, facilities, organizational culture, and how limited resources are allocated. And we have to be willing to change practices when better approaches are available.

Taking Action

The Police Department, Human Resources, City Management, and our regional partners are not standing still.

Earlier this year, the City implemented a retention initiative that provided financial benefits to members of the Police Department. Additional overtime measures were authorized to help address immediate scheduling needs.

We also recognize that overtime and financial incentives alone will not solve a long-term workforce challenge.

Chief Stewart and members of the department have been actively engaged in recruitment activities throughout the region. The department has modified portions of its applicant assessment process, including offering assessments during weekends and at times that are more accessible for applicants who are currently employed.

The interview process has also been broadened to include employees from different areas of the department rather than relying upon a more limited process. That provides additional perspectives while giving candidates a better opportunity to learn about the people with whom they may serve.

I am grateful to the Police Department and Human Resources employees who continue to participate in recruitment events, applicant assessments, interviews, and other activities beyond their regular responsibilities. Their families also make sacrifices when that service requires evenings and weekends, and that contribution should not go unrecognized.

We are also strengthening regional partnerships.

Chief Stewart and Rock County Sheriff Curtis Fell have maintained communication and collaboration since the beginning of her tenure. Rock County Administrator John Light and I have similarly maintained open communication regarding how our organizations can support one another.

That collaboration resulted in an agreement through which Rock County Sheriff's Office deputies can augment law enforcement services within Beloit, working alongside our officers to help maintain coverage while the City continues its recruitment and retention efforts.

These actions are not a declaration that the problem has been solved. They demonstrate that we understand the challenge and are actively responding to it.

Accountability and Respect Can Coexist

I also want to echo the recent words of Council President Day and Vice President Adama.

Public scrutiny and respectful disagreement are important parts of local government, particularly when discussing something as consequential as public safety. Residents should expect transparency and accountability from their City government and Police Department.

Criticism of decisions, policies, spending, staffing levels, management practices, or leadership is legitimate. City leaders, including me, should expect our decisions to be questioned. We should be prepared to explain those decisions and, when appropriate, acknowledge when a different approach is needed.

At the same time, there will be circumstances in which legal, personnel, labor, or confidentiality requirements limit what City officials can say publicly. That can create an imbalance in public discussion because allegations can be made publicly while the City may be unable to disclose all of the information necessary to respond. We will provide facts and context when we responsibly and legally can, but we will not compromise employee rights, legal obligations, or appropriate personnel processes simply to respond to public criticism.

There is also an important distinction between criticizing someone's professional decisions and attacking someone because of who they are.

Personal, discriminatory, demeaning, or threatening attacks against the Chief or any City employee have no place in the public conversation about Beloit's future. References to someone's race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, or other personal characteristics contribute nothing to a legitimate discussion about public safety, staffing, leadership, or City services.

I recognize that those comments do not represent our entire community. Some have also come from individuals outside Beloit. But when discriminatory rhetoric enters the conversation, silence should not be interpreted as acceptance.

I say that not only as City Manager, but from my own life experience. I am the son of immigrant parents who became citizens of this country and a first-generation college graduate. My career has provided opportunities I could never have imagined when I began it, including advanced education and executive leadership development and, ultimately, the privilege of being selected by the City Council to serve this community as City Manager.

I know that my story is only one of many.

Our organization and our community are strengthened when people with different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and ideas are able to contribute. People should be evaluated on their character, their performance, their professionalism, and their commitment to serving this community.

That is the standard I expect for myself, our leadership team, and our employees.

Moving Forward

Our City Council members, employees, and department leaders are also neighbors, parents, friends, coaches, volunteers, and members of this community.

We appreciate the many things that make Beloit special, while recognizing that Beloit did not become the community it is today overnight. Generations of residents, businesses, community organizations, elected officials, and City employees have invested tremendous effort in helping Beloit grow, adapt, and transform.

Our responsibility is to build upon that work.

 Our departments have already adapted operations to the staffing and resource realities we face. Our employees continue to report to work every day and provide the services our residents and businesses depend upon. At the same time, we will continue examining where our organization needs to improve.

We will listen.

We will ask difficult questions.

We will make changes when changes are needed.

We will support our employees while holding ourselves accountable.

And we will not allow discriminatory or demeaning attacks to replace legitimate discussion about how we can make our organization and our community better.

I want to close by thanking all of our City employees who serve this wonderful community.

During my first two months as City Manager, I have had the opportunity to spend time with employees across the organization and see firsthand much of what they do. I have also gained a greater appreciation for the challenges they face and why so many of them have chosen public service.

I am particularly grateful to the men and women serving in our public safety roles during this challenging period, and to every employee throughout the City who continues to show up, adapt, solve problems, and serve our residents.

We have challenges ahead of us. We also have tremendous opportunities.

We will navigate both together, and I believe our organization and our community will be stronger because we were willing to do the difficult work required to move Beloit forward.

Sincerely,

Daniel Ortiz Hernandez, ICMA-CM

City Manager