Flagstaff candidates outline housing, climate and budget priorities at city manager forum

At a public forum in Flagstaff, the two finalists for city manager — Doug Schultz and Joanne Keane — laid out their backgrounds and priorities and answered audience questions about housing, economic diversification, climate action, budget transparency and disability access.

The forum gave both finalists time to introduce themselves and to respond to three prepared questions about engaging community partners, addressing the housing shortage and implementing the city’s climate goals. Doug Schultz described a long career in local government, saying he has served as a city manager for more than three decades and stressed accessibility and stakeholder outreach. Joanne Keane, the city’s deputy city manager and a 20-year Flagstaff resident, emphasized balancing competing goals and implementing the council-declared housing and climate emergencies while continuing capital projects and services.

Why it matters: the city manager oversees daily operations and implements council policy; the next hire will have primary responsibility for advancing the council’s housing and carbon-neutrality goals and for day-to-day management of the city budget and staff.

Background and priorities Doug Schultz, introduced as a finalist, described decades of municipal experience in Minnesota, Washington and California and urged active community engagement, saying the structure of a city manager and deputies should allow time for outreach. Schultz pointed to past work where public–private partnerships and land trusts produced permanently affordable units and cited…