DeKalb City Manager Mark Biernacki is multifaceted.

As a city worker, he has the duties of overseeing almost every city department while being knowledgeable of the goings-on in every corner of the growing city.

After attending NIU in the 1980s, Biernacki traveled to different states and cities performing civil duties, only to return to DeKalb. His only request of students: “Get to know your community.”

Northern Star – What does a city manger do?

Mark Biernacki – City managers run the day-to-day operations of the city. DeKalb has the city manager/council form. The best way to describe it is to use this analogy: a corporation, for example, where you have a chairman of the board and a chief executive officer. Sometimes, in certain corporations, those two positions are one and the same. That would be the equivalent of the mayor form of government where the mayor is the chairman of the board and also the CEO. He runs all policy meetings and so forth, but also day-to-day interactions with the staff and day-to-day directions. In other corporations, the chairman and CEO are two separate people and that’s what the city manager form of government is, where the mayor is the chairman of the board and the manager is the CEO. I hire and fire all staff; the council has no role in that. The only person they hire and fire is me. We have seven departments, each with a department head who meets with me.

NS – Describe a typical day.

MB – There’s a lot of meetings. A typical day may include the following: Once a week, I meet one-on-one with department heads to find out what is going on in their area. Generally, every week, there are probably two night meetings a week, either a city council or something else. Yesterday, for example, certain members of my staff and myself met and discussed which architectural firms are interested in doing our police station. We winnowed down that list to be the one from which we will now conduct interviews and create a list we will give to the city council. There are always impromptu things that occur throughout the day, whether a personal issue, a law matter. Then, of course, everything you have planned for a day gets derailed because something else may happen.

NS – What education and experiences prepared you for the job of city manager?

MB – Many students may not know I am a graduate of NIU, back in 1980 with my undergrad and ’85 with my graduate degree. But it wasn’t in public administration. It was in urban economic geography. Up until my appointment as city manager in early ’04, my entire professional career has been in the area of city planning in locations throughout the country. For a nine-and-a-half-year period in the 1990s, I was the community development director for the city of DeKalb. I left to do that same type of work for the city of Elgin. I came back to be city manager.

NS – What drew you to DeKalb?

MB – Well, I’ve always liked DeKalb, ever since my days as a student. I simply loved the community and enjoyed being a public servant in this community. My first full-time job out of school was as a planner for DeKalb County. Then, I left to work for a good number of years out of state in New Mexico and Alaska. I came back as the city’s community development director. I wanted to come back based on my affinity for the city as a student.

NS – What do you want students to know about the city?

MB – I recollect back on my days as student; when I lived in DeKalb as an undergrad, my world began and ended at the edge of the campus. If I would suggest anything to the students, you know, you’re a resident of DeKalb for three-quarters of the year. Get to know your community; get to know your host community. There’s a lot to offer here in DeKalb. Get out and about and see the community.