MEET THE 2024 LEADERSHIP TRAILBLAZER FINALIST Betsy Keller

Today’s Trailblazer: Betsy Keller

The League caught up with Trailblazer Finalist, Betsy Keller, Chief Administrator, El Paso County, Texas to talk about being named a Leadership Trailblazer and having a career in public service:

Q: Congratulations on being named a finalist for the Leadership Trailblazer Award. What does it mean to you to be nominated? 

Working in public service is such an honorable and noble career that gives me incredible pride, joy, and fulfillment.  To be nominated for this award, where I have seen many of my own public service sheroes be nominated, awarded or involved with the League of Women in Government, means I am following the trail that has been blazed for me and continuing to blaze it for other women.  It is a remarkable feeling of affirmation.

Q: What led you to a career in public service?

I wish I could say that what lead me to public service was a calling to serve others, but in all honesty, it was two things: A need for a career to provide as a single mom of 3 young boys and a fateful error!   After struggling to get out of an abusive marriage, I was keeping an eye on city job openings (who remembers classified ads?) because I had 3 boys, ages 10 months, 22 months, and 7 years and needed medical insurance as my youngest child had a couple major health issues. The City of Alamogordo advertised a position for a municipal court clerk. I worked for a law office and thought a municipal court clerk position was right up my alley.  However, when I went in for testing and interviews, it was actually a position in the city clerk’s office as a deputy city clerk.  I thought I would never get hired, but fortunately, they took a chance on me, and the rest is history!  Once I started, the work quickly became a calling and an addiction!  I was eager to learn so I volunteered to assist in several departments when I finished my daily work.  I wanted to understand how we could make even greater impacts on those we served and on the employees who provided service to our community.

Q: Who were your mentor(s) or advocate(s) in your career?

There have been many!  First, City Clerk Angie Rahn-Broyles who took a chance on hiring me and who had high professional standards she instilled in me.  HR Director Loni Cuevas who promoted me into Human Resources – she included me and shared all her knowledge with me in a way that was genuine, mature, and professional.  Dee Dee Craine, HR Administrative Assistant whom I supervised, was a strong advocate for my career.  She literally took me to register so I would go back to school to finish my degree.

City Manager Pat McCourt was the greatest mentor of my young professional life.  He praised my strengths and coached my opportunities for growth.  He involved me in ICMA and New Mexico Municipal League conferences.  He also taught me so much about ethics – not in words, but in very impactful actions.  When we had both moved on to other communities and I was considering applying for my first county manager position, it was Mr. McCourt who I called and shared my fears -I was unsure I was ready to manage in such a large community. And it was him who reassured me in his calm and confident way that I was ready and he who reminded me that I had already been working very successfully in this large community for years.

Next, there was then County Judge, now Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, County Attorney JoAnne Bernal, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, County Administrator Steve Norwood, and numerous elected officials who have been guides and advisors all along the way.

There have been the trailblazers whose careers I have watched and whose bravery I have admired and used as inspiration as I grew through local government – Debi Lee, Becky Ehler, Susan Thorpe, Peggy Merriss, Jane Brautigam, Opal Mauldin-Jones, Susan Muranishi, Karen Pinkos, Lungile Dlamini, Pat Martel, Kelly McAdoo, Sheryl Sculley, Tanya Ange, Cindy Steinhauser, Helen Ramirez, Toni Holmes, and so many more!

And there have been the men who cheered, coached, and advocated for me and for equality through ICMA and other affiliations including Bryan Montgomery, Dave Childs, Wes Hare, Lee Feldman, Mike Land, Pete Austin, Steve Mokrohisky, Kenneth Wilson, Scott Sorrell, Bryan Hill, GK Mas, Daryl Martin, Bill Bilyeu and countless others!

Q: What is the most important lesson you learned while coming up in your career?

The MOST important lesson I learned while coming up in my career was ethics.  City Manager Pat McCourt taught me an extremely valuable lesson (one of many) that laid the foundation for my career.  The State Legislature had passed a bill that had an error in the language that caused all law enforcement to have to be paid overtime at 40 hours, regardless of their rank.  The intent was to only have to pay overtime for non-exempt law enforcement employees at 40 hours. There was going to be about 4 weeks where the law would be in effect before a special session could be held to correct the language.

We were offered a couple choices by our legal advisor.  We could ignore the law knowing it was an error and see if anyone challenged us. We could pay the overtime, which was not in our budget and was not part of our union agreement.

When Mr. McCourt was given the options, it was clear that paying the overtime was the ethical and only choice.  To this day I remember him saying, “I belong to ICMA and we have a Code of Ethics, and I took an oath of office when I took this position to uphold the law, not whether the law was right or wrong or whether I agree with it or not.  We are paying the overtime until the law is changed.“  It was so clear to him and he showed us how to make it clear in our future decisions.

Q: What advice do you have for women just beginning their careers who would like to be an executive in local government someday?

This may not be scientific or taught in a college class, but it has helped me find my path to executive leadership.

Focus not on yourself but on those you serve and those you lead or will eventually lead.  Listen with intent to both. Never give up in finding solutions and delivering the outcomes they need.

Be driven, yet be kind, be ethical, and have good intent.

Stay positive and do not dwell with negative people or people who think it cannot be done!

Be a lifelong learner and invest in yourself! (I was in one of the first ICMA emerging leader programs.)

Seek advice from a variety of sources (including people at all levels and with diverse backgrounds) and when someone takes the time to give you advise or feedback, realize it is a gift and use it to develop and grow.

Have the courage to give honest and constructive feedback to help others – develop them, share your knowledge, pick them up after their mistakes, show them the way forward, their success is your true success!

Engage! Never be afraid to raise your hand, join ICMA and other professional organizations, volunteer for an assignment, or jump in where you see an opportunity for leadership.  Support your profession by attending events, donating, and being active.

Listen and learn on everything going on in your local government and others no matter what role you have.  And when it is your project or your agenda item, make sure there is no one in the room who knows more about the subject than you do – study, do your research, be the expert.  Also, do not be afraid to say I do not know, let me get back to you!

Anticipate what your boss or governing body will need and give it to them before they ask.

Start thinking and behaving like the leader you aspire to be now, don’t wait until when you have the position!

Q: What do you hope to leave as your legacy in local government when your career comes to an end?

If when I leave my career, people in the communities I have served continue to benefit from the programs, policies, and projects my team and I implemented, it will be a legacy of which I am proud.  And if there are dozens of men and women I have helped to develop who are dedicated to carrying forward this work in not only my community, but across the globe, then that is a legacy I will truly cherish.

However, I never think this work is done.  I hope I can continue to be a resource and continue to give back to local government even after I retire, whether I volunteer, be a mentor, serve as a Senior Advisor, or provide consulting to local governments.