First, international service attracted her. But then Kelly McAdoo made an important discovery.
“I quickly realized that I would like a career in local government because I would be able to see the direct impact on people,” McAdoo said. “City government brings you closest to the people so you can see things happen and see the impact on their lives.”
McAdoo was hired as Santa Barbara’s city administrator in May 2024 after serving for some 25 years in a variety of executive positions in city government in other cities.
She brings a calm, level-headed approach to what can sometimes be an emotionally charged environment of opinions.
People feel strongly about everything from the design of State Street to the challenges of homelessness to the lack of adequate affordable housing. So, a respectful method helps diffuse strong emotions.
“My practice is always to sit and listen because people want to be heard,” she said. “Let’s keep thinking together about finding threads of solutions.”
Broad Scope of Responsibilities
McAdoo said the city administrator is basically the CEO of the city, and the City Council is like the board of directors. The city administrator oversees the day-to-day activities of 1,100 employees who provide basic services such as police, fire, parks and recreation, human resources, personnel, land use, water systems, and the sewer.
“These services are so important, but most people don’t even know they exist until something goes wrong,” she said. “Everything that touches our life is run by local government.”
McAdoo keeps her team focused on their goals by having a solid strategic plan that identifies key priorities, revisiting those priorities annually and evaluating their progress.
“I help council understand the potential results of various options for action,” she said. “The key is to focus on our initiatives for the year and realize there will always be tradeoffs.
“I remind my team that we are here for public service.”
Four words characterize McAdoo’s leadership style: care, question, analyze and perspective. She explains that it’s like putting a puzzle together.
“It’s important for me to ask the tough questions and clarify,” she said. “I try to remember that this is my job, not my entire life.
“I try not to become the position, but to stay as the person. I work to create a workplace where people can have balance.”
She said she learned this unique approach to leadership by watching her father work in lower-level positions while he held executive roles in the airline industry.
“He wanted to see what it felt like to be an employee,” she said. “So, I try to connect with my fellow employees on a regular basis.”
Key Issues
McAdoo identified the three top priorities for Santa Barbara as the long-term plan for State Street, economic redevelopment and a strong budget.
She explained that, since 50% of our taxes comes from tourism, which is so cyclical, we need to create diverse streams of revenue.
She sees opportunity at the airport for economic development and leveraging that area for corporate and technology businesses. She also wants to look at how we can better leverage city-owned land for housing.
Other priorities for McAdoo include how to attract and keep city employees and find ways for them to live and work here. She also wants to find ways to create differentiated space on State Street for e-bikes to reduce the danger to pedestrians and other cyclists.
Of course, homelessness is on her radar as a major issue, especially those resistant to help.
She pointed to the Housing First approach and our Navigation Center as providing excellent solutions where homeless individuals go to one spot and service providers come to them to deliver services.
“We have an incredibly hard working and committed city staff,” McAdoo said. “I hope people can have kindness toward our city staff.
“Sometimes the public gets angry about certain situations. But they don’t realize that the staff are working with policies and rules that they can’t change. I think it’s always best to have empathy toward each other.
“We are focused on creating systems and structures to help make sure we can hold city government accountable. We also want to make sure we are not always responding to the loudest voice.
“We try to create fairness and find ways to better measure and address any inequities.”
City Government Career and Young People
“City government is underrated and has a bad rap,” McAdoo said. “This field offers many unique opportunities even if you don’t have a college degree because there is a lot of on-the-job training.
“It’s rewarding because you’re always giving back. It’s well-paid, stable and has good benefits. There are cities everywhere and city government is a transferable skill.”
McAdoo hopes to increase work with local schools to encourage students to consider a career in local government.
The Lean Startup Approach
McAdoo likes the Lean Startup approach even though it was first used by technology start-ups. She said this method works well with local government because it saves time and money.
“Basically, we make small experiments and then test them before we invest money implementing a project,” she said. “We talk to stakeholders first. Then, based on their input, we try a short-term policy and try something new.
“This way we find out what works and fine tune it before we roll out the final project. This methodology has proven to be much more cost-effective than the old way of researching the design of a policy for many months and then rolling out our best interpretation of the research without public input along the way.”
Life in Santa Barbara
“My daughter attends Lynchburg College in Virginia, where she enjoys hunter/jumper equestrian competitions,” McAdoo said. “It’s a good way to keep her focused on school because she loves riding so much.”
McAdoo has two lovely dogs, a Corgi named Addison, and a Dachshund named Bailey. She lives on the Eastside and joined Newcomers Club. She is an avid hiker and enjoys all types of live music.
Her undergraduate degree comprised political science, international studies, and economics. Her master’s degree is in public administration.
“I’ve been surprised that even though the issues we face here in Santa Barbara are not unique, they are different than many cities,” McAdoo said. “Here we must focus on making sure our community remains a special place. It has a small town feel but we have lots of resources.”