Leveraging Glendale’s established base in sports and entertainment for long-term economic growth is incoming City Manager Patrick Banger’s goal.
Institutions like the State Farm Stadium, the home of the state’s football team, Arizona Cardinals and the Camelback Ranch stadium, the spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, will be key drivers of this process, he said.
Banger was selected by Glendale City Council earlier this month to succeed Kevin Phillips, effective Jan. 12.
In an interview, he spoke about his tenure as Gilbert’s town manager and what he hopes to accomplish Glendale.
He was philosophical about his move, saying the lure of a new challenge ultimately beckoned.
“It’s been over 14 years, actually going on year 15 in Gilbert, and it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience,” Banger said.
“It was a very difficult decision to make…I have truly, truly enjoyed being a part of this community and working with the wonderful staff within the organization.”
Yet, he quoted second-century Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius to explain his decision: “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly,”
“I was thinking about the last 10 years of my career, and what would I like to do with it to make the most out of it?
“And that’s really when it became very clear to me that Glendale’s opportunities were motivating to me, and I’m not afraid to go prove myself all over again in a new role, a new setting, a new set of challenges,” he said.
Banger believes that where Glendale is concerned, “It is the strengths they have and the strength that’s going to bring additional investments in destination entertainment and sports-related destination entertainment opportunities.”.
He anticipates leveraging the revenue from these bases to fuel the redevelopment of Glendale regional airport into a “true corporate class airport serving the community”.
Glendale also has close to 24 million square feet of industrial land to be developed, Banger said, which can lead to job creation and help fuel the city’s downtown revitalization.
“In Glendale, you have this beautiful historic district, and you’ve got these beautiful structures, and there’s been redevelopment occurring, but there’s a lot of opportunity to do more,” he said.
Several higher education institutions also have a presence in Glendale, like the Midwestern University, the Arizona Christian University and Arizona State University’s west campus.
Banger said reinvestment in these campuses will certainly be a catalyst in Glendale’s growth, along with long-term community building.
“I always try to focus on this — community partnerships and relationships, I have some pre-existing in Glendale, I was an honorary base commander at Luke Air Force Base,” he said.
“And you can’t emphasize enough the importance of higher education for a community, the workforce, families and employers, what that means — so really diving into community partnerships as well, and building relationships and trust with those key stakeholders and groups are also very, very important to Glendale’s success,” he said.
Despite his big plans for the the city, Banger noted that the first thing he would do when he joins Glendale’s workforce in January next year will be to “just listen.”
“I want to get together with all of the directors and their departments and just get to know them, get to know their service lines, their approach to service delivery, how I can support them in areas where major ongoing projects or initiatives are underway or on the drawing boards,” he said.
“I want to know how I can best serve them and support them, because their success is my success, and our success is the council’s success, and that’s what we’re all here to achieve.”
Banger noted that Gilbert will soon be transitioning into the “sustaining” phase of the community, and with Glendale’s opportunities for growth, those are the challenges he sees himself tackle in the last 10 years of his public service career.
Banger, who currently lives in Gilbert with his wife and their three daughters, said that the family is already working on a move to Glendale, as is the norm with many city administrators.
Between working at his current job and learning about his new job, house hunting in Glendale and November nuptials of one of his children, he confessed he is “stretched pretty thin at the moment”.
“We’re looking forward to getting settled into Glendale as quickly as we can, because you just learn so much about by just being a part of a community in the community, day in and day out,” he said.
He’s also trying to maintain his role in Gilbert during the hectic transition, adding he’s leaving the town with “tremendous staff members” as it decides how to find his replacement.
“I hope that some of them are at a point where they’re willing to throw their name in the hat for the position,” he added.