KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The acting city manager is a city hall insider. He's worked at the Kansas City, Missouri City Hall for 11 years.
Troy Schulte says he first got the word Tuesday night that he might be tapped as the acting city manager.
He's the budget director and known as a whiz with numbers who knows the city budget inside and out. But that's also why some council members question whether he bears some of the blame for budget problems.
Friday, Schulte talked to state lawmakers in one of his first duties as acting city manager. And he faced reporters asking how he'll do his new job.
"My job is to provide good staff work, to make sure that there are good services provided to the public," said Schulte.
Some like Schulte's command of the numbers.
"I've got an awful lot of confidence that the former budget director is on top of the budget situation. He's worked with me and the council for years. He is widely regarded as an honest broker," said KCMO Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
But some wonder how he will handle the transition to the city manger's duties.
"He's widely viewed as being close to Councilwoman Deb Hermann, and now he works for all of us," said Councilman John Sharp.
"My approach has always been to give them what the number is...They may not always like what the number says,” said Schulte in response to a question about his numbers.
Schulte will be acting city manager for at least six months and says he hopes to keep the job.
And one city council member thinks Schulte may get it permanently because after this week's controversy, it could be hard to get anyone else to want the job.
Remember all that fuss Thursday over whether staffers in the city manager’s office were kicked out of their offices?
Schulte says yes, he was the one who told people to go home for the day. He says it was to avoid the media. But he also confirms that some e-mail accounts were frozen as a security precaution. Schulte say those have been turned back on.
