Operating in between an emergency financial manager and elected officials, Joe Sobota (’95) is helping to bring Pontiac back from receivership
Appointed city administrator for Pontiac in August, Sobota is part of the transition plan to return the city to full local control. He reports to and serves at the pleasure of the Transition Advisory Board that was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to monitor the city until the governor believes that Pontiac is no longer in a state of receivership.
He is working with local leaders to adopt a permanent solution to the city’s many financial problems, especially a $10 million annual retiree health insurance obligation.
“I am charged with helping the local leadership adopt and implement that solution while at the same time maintaining Pontiac’s financial stability by managing its day-to-day operations,” he says.
Sobota was given the job by outgoing emergency manager Lou Schimmel, who served as Pontiac’s EM since 2011. He was the third emergency manager for this once-thriving Oakland County city located at the north end of Woodward Avenue.
In a December Detroit Free Press article, Schimmel was quoted as saying that without Sobota handling the transition, Pontiac would soon backslide.
“I’ve seen that happen in too many cities, and the state shares my determination that this doesn’t continue to occur,” he said.
Parallels certainly can be drawn with Detroit’s current situation as Detroit now is being run by emergency manager Kevin Orr. But Pontiac is in a kind of special form of purgatory between emergency oversight and its duly elected leadership: the mayor and city council. And Sobota is the man in that middle, working hard to make sure the city emerges from “purgatory” as carefully and quickly as possible.
So if and when that happens, then what for Sobota?
“My reward for doing my job well is to lose my job,” he says. And he’s okay with that. He wants to see Pontiac back on its feet and running like a top once again under its own power.
Sobota has been working for Pontiac for a number of years, most recently before his current position serving as community development director and deputy finance director.
“I also served as city clerk for three weeks in 2011 to administer a special election,” he says. “I’ve been with the city since February of 2011, serving as the assistant to the emergency financial manager in addition to my other responsibilities.”
His responsibilities also have included supervision of the city’s building department and assisting with the preparation of its annual budget. Before Pontiac, Sobota worked for the City of Algonac as the its treasurer, city clerk and acting city manager. Prior to Algonac, he was the operations manager for his hometown of Hamtramck.
So it’s pretty obvious that Sobota has a passion for government work. “I really have had a desire for a career in government since fifth grade,” he says. “However, my goal was always to attain elected office. As a matter of fact, I did run for state representative in 2000 but was not successful. So I decided to pursue instead a career in public administration.”
Joe Sobota ’95 (NDHS) stands in Pontiac city hall in front of one of his favorite photos, Pope John Paul II conducting Mass at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987.
“Undoubtedly, Notre Dame High School prepared me well for college and my career,” he says. “Because of the Advanced Placement program and the high level of education in the honors classes, I was not required to take a single math, English or history class in college. As a result, I was able to structure my class schedule in a way that allowed me to obtain two majors in only six semesters of study and to graduate college in three years.”
His early graduation from college led him directly to his first job, which was working for then-mayor of Hamtramck, Gary Zych, who graduated from NDHS in 1972.
“If I had not been able to accept the position in Hamtramck in 1998 and begin my professional career, I know that I would not be in the position in Pontiac that I am in today,” he says.
“I also appreciate all the teachers I had at Notre Dame because each of them imparted some piece of knowledge I use every day in my career,” Sobota adds. “And because I was seeking a career in government, I concentrated my high school studies in the social studies department with Mr. Schram, Mr. Rice and Mr. Havrilscak.”
He also says his public speaking abilities were greatly improved through his participation in forensics and debate with Norm Kotarski and Ruth Edberg.
“However,” he adds, “I cannot stress enough how well all of my math and English teachers prepared me for the AP exams. And on a more personal level, the religion classes at Notre Dame helped to solidify my Catholic faith. I hope that I have achieved the level of being moral, upright and scholarly that Notre Dame stresses for each of its students.”
Quite clearly, Sobota appreciates his Notre Dame and Catholic experience. He says being a product of Catholic education from preschool through undergraduate and living directly across the street from a public school, he knows how fortunate he was that his parents sacrificed to send him to parochial schools.
“After I graduated Notre Dame, I was a faithful contributor to its annual fund,” he says. “My motivation for donating at that time was a way of expressing my gratitude to the teachers who provided me that education. Today, with Notre Dame High School closed and nearly all my former high school teachers retired, my motivation now for contributing to Notre Dame Prep is to ensure that an exceptional Catholic and Marist education will still be possible for others well into the future.”
Follow Notre Dame at @NDPMA.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.