Assistant City Manager Elaine Polachek honored with OWLie
March 14, 2017 7:05 PM
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On Friday, March 10, Assistant City Manager Elaine Polachek was recognized by the Santa Monica Chamber’s Organization of Women Leaders (OWL) at its 2017 International Women’s Day Breakfast. Elaine and documentarian Amy Ziering received OWLie Awards for being trailblazing women in labor and business. The event is held annually in partnership with the Commission on the Status of Women as part of Women’s History Month. We wanted to share Elaine’s remarks with you here as a way to inspire the next generation of women leaders in public service.
Thank you, Julia, for that very kind introduction. My thanks to the Chamber of Commerce, the Commission on the Status of Women, and all who have made this morning possible. I am so honored to receive this award and am humbled to be a co-recipient with Amy Ziering.
When Laurel notified me that I was receiving the OWL award this year, I began thinking about what I would say to an audience overflowing with exceptional women. In fact, looking around the room, you would think that Santa Monica’s movers and shakers are predominantly women. And you would be right!
Women comprise a significant proportion of leadership in our community. Gleam Davis is our Mayor Pro Tem and serves with Pam O’Connor and Sue Himmelrich on our City Council. Dr. Kathryn Jeffery is president of Santa Monica College and four of the seven members of the College Board of Trustees are women. Laurie Lieberman is our School Board president, and three of the seven members of the Board of Education are women. Laurel Rosen is president/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Kathleen Rawson is the president/CEO of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., and Misti Kerns is the president/CEO of Santa Monica Travel and Tourism. And women lead many of our City’s Boards and Commissions and non-profit organizations. Women also make up a high percentage of the City of Santa Monica workforce and executive team. Six of the 11 department heads are women, including the directors of Public Works, Finance, Human Resources, Library, Community & Cultural Services, the City Clerk, the Rent Control Director, and our Police Chief, a former OWL award recipient. At many of the meetings I attend, women outnumber men.
I am proud to work in a community where women compete successfully for leadership positions, excel at their work, and elevate their organizations. Many of us assume that Santa Monica is a microcosm of the rest of the world. But I’ve been researching how women fair in attaining leadership roles, and unfortunately, our success is not shared as broadly throughout the private and public sectors as one might think. In fact, Santa Monica may be more of an outlier than the standard.
Here’s what I learned. In a study entitled Women in the Workplace 2016, conducted by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey, researchers found that in corporate America, women fall behind early and keep losing ground with every step. Let me share a few of their key findings:
- Women remain underrepresented at every level in the corporate pipeline. Corporate America promotes men at a 30 percent higher rate than women during their early career stages.
- Women negotiate for promotions and raises as often as men but face more pushback when they do. Women are almost three times more likely than men to think their gender will make it harder to get a raise, promotion, or chance to get ahead.
- The challenge is even more pronounced for women of color. Compared with white women, women of color face the most barriers, and experience the steepest drop-offs with seniority.
Having spent the majority of my career in local government, I was confident that the public sector would set the bar for gender equality in leadership. But my research indicated otherwise.
In 1976, a task force of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, issued a report on the low number of female chief executives. The results of the report were eye-opening. At that time, and remember this is 1976 - women made up about half of the municipal government workforce but only 1 percent of chief administrative officer positions. In 2003, only 12 percent of the nation's city and county managers were women. In 2013, that number had risen to 20 percent, only to drop to 14 percent the following year. So over the course of 38 years, women chief administrative officers grew from 1 percent to 14 percent. Isn’t that disheartening?
I’ve seen this lack of representation first hand at the annual ICMA convention. The convention draws about 3,500 City and County Managers. There are women in attendance, of course. And a smattering of men and women of color. But the room is predominantly white, male, and over 50.
So why is Santa Monica the exception? Why do we continue to have significant numbers of women in leadership roles? Gen X’ers and Millennials undoubtedly assume that it’s always been this way, but those of us of a certain age know that it took trailblazers to push for gender equality in Santa Monica. Women like Clo Hoover, Santa Monica’s first female mayor, who had the courage to oppose the opinions of her fellow male Councilmembers, and prevail, ensuring the Santa Monica Pier was protected.
And speaking of the Pier, where I spent 11 years working on its revitalization, Ruth Yannatta Goldway and Judy Abdo were strong voices advocating for preserving its history and character. Susan McCarthy, Santa Monica’s first female City Manager, was an inspiration to me and my colleagues.
Eleanor Roosevelt famously said “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” And these women did.
But there have been many women – mothers, teachers, organizers, activists, business owners – who used their individual and collective intelligence and force of will to champion issues. Santa Monica is a more inclusive and vibrant city because women have shaped every facet of our community.
Research also validates that a lack of gender diversity and women in senior level positions can hinder government from reaching peak performance. So clearly we need a new cohort of young women who will take the reins and influence the future of Santa Monica and other cities. Given the numbers I just recited, I am more than a little concerned about whether there will be a next generation of women leaders in city management. While public administration is number seven on the list of top 10 graduate degrees for men, it doesn’t even make the list for women. Yet studies show that women tend to gravitate towards academic fields and career paths where they can have a positive social impact and work collaboratively with others. This is the definition of city management.
So here’s my pitch. Talk to your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, friends who are contemplating their future careers. Let them know that smart, assertive, caring young women who want to have a transformative effect on people’s lives can accomplish that in city government. Let’s pledge to move the dial from 14% to at least 50% in the next 38 years. And in the meantime, all of us will continue do our part to ensure that strong female voices are heard and respected.
Recognition is a natural opportunity for self-reflection. I’ve had my share of accomplishments, disappointments, important milestones, and tremendous good fortune. When asked how I’ve been able to promote in my career, my standard answer is – luck and timing. But it’s been much more than that. Each of us stands on the shoulders of those who came before. For me, it starts with my family.
I am also grateful to colleagues and friends in the City and community, past and present, who worked with me, coached me, and taught me the ropes. Many are here this morning and I am grateful for your presence and support. Two former City Managers, Lamont Ewell and Rod Gould, took a chance and promoted me in the City Manager’s Office. I’d like to think that their confidence in me was well-placed. And now I have the good fortune of working side by side with Rick Cole whose generosity and respect have meant so much to me.
In one of his Weekly Messages to staff and City Council, Rick said “Regardless of our plans, no one knows for certain how long we will have the opportunity to serve. Which makes all of our time here, in a sense, bittersweet. In the good times and the bad times – and we all have both – there is the reality that “this too shall pass.” We sometimes refer to “permanent” employment status – but none of us is “permanent” -- at some point we all have to pass the baton.”
And so it is for me. I will be passing the baton in July when I leave the City.
When I came to Santa Monica in the summer of 1984 looking for a job, it never occurred to me that I would spend my career here. I was living with my sister in the Valley and my goal was just to find cooler weather. But stay I did, and my luck and timing were impeccable. And whatever comes next for me, it will build upon the relationships and support I have received throughout my career.
I am optimistic about Santa Monica’s future. And I am confident that when it comes to addressing challenges, it will be Santa Monica’s women who will lead the charge.
And now, in honor of International Women’s Day, I would like to close with a quote from Tina Fey that acknowledges the contributions of assertive women.
“You know what? Bitches get stuff done.”
Thank you very much.