Mike Bennett reflects on his first 8 months as GJ’s city manager and what he hopes to accomplish. 

Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times 

When Mike Bennett became Grand Junction’s city manager after coming over from the same position in Fruita in December 2024, he stepped into the role with a clear focus: Build a healthy organization from the inside out.

At the time, the city was in the midst of multiple controversial projects and heading into a spring election that would bring significant change to the city council, which resulted in three new members and one re-elected member who became mayor.

As Bennet settled into his role, and now eight months in, he has directed his energy toward the future, guided by a long-term mindset rooted in sound decision-making, efficiency and building trust with the community. His focus is on strengthening the internal foundation of city government by reinforcing core services, improving operations and, above all, earning public confidence.

Three focus areas highlighted

“Three things that have really been on my mind are purpose, relationships of trust, and efficiency,” he said. “That’s what I want to focus on in a forward-facing approach.”

Purpose: Delivering the core services exceptionally well

Bennett said the city’s primary purpose is to deliver essential services no one else provides, such as fire protection, street maintenance, sewer systems and parks.

“Our purpose is to provide core services that no other entities are providing,” he said. “Police, fire, parks, utilities, we exist to provide those. And we’ve got to do that really, really well.”

He emphasized the city is leaning into a “back-to-basics” approach during its strategic planning process with the new council.

“The theme is definitely core services, back to basics, really trying to be the best at what our purpose is,” he said. “It helps us clarify to the public what our purpose is and where our energy should go.”

Collaborating Beyond Core Services

While the city is focused on essentials such as public safety, streets and utilities, Bennett recognizes the need for collaboration with partners to address broader community needs.

“There’s always pressure to expand beyond our scope,” he said. “But we need to stay focused on those priorities we’re best at.”

At the same time, Bennett acknowledged the importance of strategic partnerships, particularly when it comes to community-wide issues that fall outside the city’s core responsibilities.

“There’s going to be some other opportunities or challenges that are community-wide, where we need to work with our medical partners, with our education partners, with our economic development partners, whatever it may be, nonprofit partners, our business community on different things,” he said. “That’s where it’s outside of those core services, and we have to be smart in how we partner in those areas and to what extent we have capacity.”

He added, “We may not have the primary responsibility or authority in some of those areas, but we may have some resources or influence or voice that we need to use for the good of the community. And so we’ve got to be smart in how we do that. But I do think that’s part of the job, too.”

Trust: Building Credibility Through Transparency and Engagement

Bennett sees trust as the city’s most valuable commodity and a resource that must be earned daily.

“Trust is not a once-and-done thing,” he said. “How do we build and maintain trust? That’s something we’re constantly working on.”

To support that, the city is rethinking how it communicates with the public. Rather than defaulting to standard outreach or “checking the box,” Bennett said the focus is on building real connections.

“We’re not just going to spitfire more communication,” he said. “We’re really thinking deliberately about how we effectively reach people and share more information, so people have context about what’s going on, which builds that trust.

“We’re making efforts to tell our story a little bit more, telling the why of what we’re working on, why we’re working on it, communicating more, over-communicating with the public.”

He stressed that public engagement must be genuine, not performative. Rather than simply sending out information, the city is trying to ensure communication actually resonates with residents.

“When we engage with people, there’s a purpose,” Bennett said. “It’s not a checkbox. It’s true engagement to get feedback to apply into our work.”

Part of that effort includes new leadership in the city’s communications department, a push for clearer explanations of decisions, and more accessible community outreach. The city council has also adopted a renewed focus on engagement, making themselves available at public events throughout the year.

The city’s evolving approach to outreach was also covered in a recent Business Times article. Read more at: thebusinesstimes.com/a-new-model-for-city-council-engagement.

Efficiency: Constant Improvement in How the City Operates

Bennett described efficiency as “the lifeblood” of how a well-run local government should function.

“Efficiency is incredibly fun, because it’s where we get focused on continuous improvement, and that’s a core value of the organization,” he said.

According to Bennett, City Hall has launched several internal efforts to boost productivity:

• Process-mapping initiatives are helping departments identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
• A new cross-functional review team is forming to identify ways to speed up planning and permitting processes without compromising on quality.
• Reassessing vacant positions to see if they can be merged with others before automatically refilling them, ensuring staffing is aligned with needs.
• Other operational changes that involve combining teams that handle similar responsibilities. For example, the city’s weed-abatement program is being restructured to merge parks and right-of-way crews, allowing for more efficient and consistent coverage.

“It’s not always about taking some massive leap,” Bennett said. “It’s like, how do we constantly get 1 percent better?”

Looking Ahead, Not Back

Bennett said one unexpected challenge early in his tenure was the level of focus, both internally and externally, on past decisions.

“There seems to be a lot of pressure to look backwards and constantly kind of digging into maybe things of the past,” he said. “That was a little surprising, because I’m a very forward-focused person.”

He emphasized reviewing the past is sometimes necessary, but his attention is aimed at what lies ahead.

“If people have questions and we need to look back to answer that, that’s completely fine,” Bennett said. “But I just wanted to get that desire to get focused forward, which we’re on that track now with strategic planning, a new council on board and new positions. The team throughout the organization is very energized and moving forward and doing the best work we can.”

Bennett said he’s working to ensure residents see that commitment reflected in the city’s direction over time.

“I hope people will see that there was a steady focus forward of continuous improvement, excellence in service delivery, and long-term, not short-term decisions, but making decisions that have a positive, long-term effect on the community,” he said.

Building the Team

Several key city positions have been filled under Bennett’s leadership, either through new hires or internal restructuring.

Jay Valentine is an experienced hand in city government and now serves as chief financial officer.

“Jay Valentine is not new to the organization,” Bennett said. “But he was the general services director, and he was also a deputy finance director in the past. So, in this new restructured Finance Department, he is the CFO. It includes all of finance, budget and IT. General services will now report to the deputy city manager instead of being under finance.”

Kimberly Bullen became deputy city manager in July after the position was budgeted by council before Bennett’s arrival. Bullen previously served as director of public works in Fruita.

“She’s overseeing public safety, general services and a number of other departments that previously reported directly to me or the finance director. That frees me up to focus more on cross-departmental projects, strategic planning and building culture,” Bennett said.

Kelsey Coleman, the city’s new communications and engagement manager, stepped into a role that was being covered on an interim basis. Coleman previously worked as the communications director for Colorado Mesa University.

 “I’m excited for Kelsey as our new communications and engagement manager,” Bennett said.

Connecting With the Community

When asked how he would like his leadership to be remembered, Bennett made it clear that he’s excited to be in Grand Junction for the long term. But ultimately, he said:

“Yeah, I don’t want to be known for projects. I want to be known for having an influence or some part as a team, with this organization, and being a city government that the people could trust, that they were proud of and that they felt heard.”

Bennet has made it a priority to be accessible to residents, not just through email or formal meetings, but also in more casual settings. Once a month, he hosts Coffee with the City Manager, often joined by city staff or council members. The event provides an informal space where residents can drop in, ask questions and share concerns directly.

For the latest dates and locations, visit the City of Grand Junction’s calendar page: www.gjcity.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=7934.

Community-engagement events are listed under “City Events and Public Engagement.”