Get to Know the City Manager
Just after she took the reins as City Manager in January 2020, Karen Conard agreed to an informational conversation so residents could get to know the person behind the role. Today in the midst of the COVID-19 response, some answers need to wait for another day, as do the monthly Coffee with the City Manager sessions she hoped to hold. Though light-hearted in these times, all are offered to let residents get to know their Manager.
Here are some excerpts from that conversation, with video links.
Q. At your first City Council meeting someone said, “What do you think? How do you like the job?” and you replied, “It’s my first day. Ask me in a week.” It’s been a couple of weeks now. [Video response]
City Manager Karen Conard: “It is so much more than I could have anticipated in terms of establishing a wealth of relationships. I feel like that’s my strong suit and it’s really coming to bear even sooner than could have imagined. If I am doing this job the way I’d like to do it, it would be to form genuine relationships and work from there. I feel comfortable where we’re at right now and I’m really excited, and looking forward to the future.”
Q. Lightning round:
Portsmouth is a restaurant city: tacos or sushi?
City Manager Karen Conard: “I like them both! Maybe tacos not on Tuesday, because everyone does that.”
Tea or coffee?
“Tea. Definitely”.
Newspapers: print or online?
“I’m old enough to say ‘print’ -- but I have to go with ‘online.’”
Army or Navy?
“I’m a Duke grad; so I’m not able to answer that.”
Introvert or extrovert?
“Always thought I was an introvert; but now I think that’s wrong; and I’m ok with that.”
You’re on the Seacoast: power or sail?
“Sail, definitely.”
What books are on your nightstand – that you never have time to read?
City Manager Karen Conard: “Exactly: that I have not cracked. First is Becoming by Michelle Obama. A good friend loaned it to me. She thinks I’d really enjoy it; and she’s probably right, but I haven’t touched page 1 yet. The other was loaned to me by a friend who keeps trying to get me to join her book club. It’s called Sold On a Monday and is about a family during the Depression in the South. I have a funny story about the third book. I bought it at the airport flying back from delivering my kid to college. You should know I don’t’ love flying. Doesn’t stop me, but I’m not keen on it. So I bought a Judy Blume book at LAX. Well, I started to open it on the plane and found out it was about a plane crash. So that book has never seen the light of day.
If you could invite any 3 people, living or not, to dinner, who would they be?
City Manager Karen Conard: “The first [person], because I’ve always been intrigued by her and the work she’s done, is Christiane Amanpour, senior correspondent for CNN. I would love to walk a day or two in her shoes and hear about that.
Second is a gentleman who has passed away, who was a great influencer on my career. He helped me pivot from a job that was not working into local government. Which ultimately led me here. We had a chance to have lunch about 2 years ago; but if I could go back and thank him, I would
The third is my husband’s father. I got remarried five years ago to a wonderful man who has a wonderful family. But I didn’t have the opportunity to meet his dad, and we talk about that.”
Other than Portsmouth of course, what’s your favorite place in the world?
City Manager Karen Conard : “Paris France. I was lucky enough to study there as a study abroad kid in college in 1988 and I got to the point that I was dreaming in French. Sometimes that feels like a couple of weeks ago, but sadly for me, it’s now 31 years ago.”
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned about Portsmouth that you didn’t know before?
City Manager Karen Conard: “Two things: First, there are 26 languages spoken in the school system, which is unbelievable to me, and I need to know more about that. The other is I’m kind of a ‘fun fact kid’ and there are 21,000 residents of Portsmouth and almost 35,000 restaurant seats if you count inside and outside. I love telling that to people and seeing their reaction.”
Q. You have three grown children?
City Manager Karen Conard: “I do.”
What would they want you to say that you have learned from them?
City Manager Karen Conard “We learned a lot from each other. I was a single mom for a long time. I don’t say that in a pitiful way at all. We were a great force. My son is now 22 and my identical twin girls are 20. It was just the 4 of us, gypsies. That’s what we called ourselves. We traveled together on a dime and did whatever we felt like doing, within reason. I tried to introduce them to other people who could help influence their lives, in addition to the village that we created. {They taught me] that people are a lot more resilient than you give them credit for; and they would say those experiences made us all pretty strong.”