220121 1435 City Manager's Friday UpdateFrom:Peter Grant
To:Peter Grant
Subject:City Manager"s Friday Update
Date:Friday, January 21, 2022 2:35:17 PM
Happy Friday Team Cypress!
Only 10 days to go for those of us “enjoying” Dry January! My wife, Emily, insisted I convert to Damp
January - it’s not much easier
On a more serious note, when I agreed to become Cypress’ City Manager almost eight years ago I
was humbled and intimidated. Humbled, because the City Council chose me to lead the city after a
nationwide search and because your collective reputation as a workforce was so impressive (it still
is). I was intimidated because Cypress was regarded as one of the region’s best run cities and
because, for 34 years is was led by Darrell Essex, someone whose image would appear on the Mount
Rushmore of California City Managers.
Working with countless Council Members, Darrell built and protected the city’s Charter, operating
policies, organizational culture, and political stability. A fundamental part of every Cypress City
Manager’s job since Darrell is to protect and enhance Cypress’ Charter, culture, and organization. It
is your City Manager’s job to ensure that, no matter what else is happening in the community, our
organization performs at a high level, that our wonderful corporate culture is protected, that we
continue to provide residents great service, and that Cypress remains Orange County’s most
successful city.
As many of you have remarked to me during the last couple of weeks, Cypress’ local politics are a bit
tough at the moment and the threat of a lawsuit against the city by a Council Member was the topic
of a special meeting last week and is on Monday’s City Council agenda. Please don’t let this rough
patch discourage or distract you. This sort of thing happens in local government and it is,
unfortunately, common in some cities. I am confident, especially based on Cypress’ history, that we
will emerge unscathed. Please trust that I will do everything I can to protect the organization and
your good works. My door, email box and phone are always open if you want to talk.
As promised, here is a link to more information about the California Voting Rights Act/Election
System challenge the City Council is assessing. The first community forum was Wednesday night. I
HIGHLY recommend watching this explainer video. It’s about 15 minutes long and it does an
excellent job explaining a state law that is dramatically changing California’s local governments and
the industry we’ve all chosen to work in.
Have a great weekend!
Pete
Peter Grant
City Manager
City of Cypress
Office 714-229-6680
Cellular 714-335-1685
pgrant@cypressca.org