Broomfield leader Jennifer Hoffman loves ‘this community’

Jennifer Hoffman originally didn’t plan to become Broomfield’s city and county manager, taking a different route of servant leadership to get there and simply loving where she works and lives.

Hoffman is the first woman to fill the role and the third manager of a city and county incorporated in 2001, following on the heels of George DiCiero and Charles Ozaki, becoming Broomfield’s “CM” in August 2019. She wasn’t on the CM track of undergoing training and hitting certain milestones to fill the role, such as leading the public works, finance and economic development departments.

“That wasn’t my experience or my journey. I fell deeply in love with this community,” Hoffman said. “I came from a family of servant leaders, having that instilled in you between volunteerism and having the thought process, if you can truly love what you do every day, if it’s your natural state, it’s what you will excel at. Mine happens to be being a public servant.”

A Denver native who lived her entire life there, Hoffman and her husband, Jerry, also a Denver native, and their two children moved to Broomfield in May 2019, leaving behind their “urban, urban, urban” lifestyle for a three-minute commute and a “fabulous” neighborhood in Crofton Park, Hoffman said.

As CM, Hoffman, who brings more than 20 years of service to her role, assists the council in policy and legislative decisions, coordinates municipal administration and supervises departments and employees — Broomfield has a total of 800 on staff.

“Jennifer is a go-getter. She is very intelligent. She is able to understand fairly quickly all the parameters of a problem and work toward getting consensus on a solution,” said Broomfield Mayor Patrick Quinn. “Businesses want to come to Broomfield because they realize we have competent management and a city council supportive of what they want to do. Jennifer is the face that gets those jobs done.”

Hoffman joined the Broomfield staff in 1999, first serving as the director of the combined courts, then leading and directing state and federal government lobbying efforts. In 2009, she became the first assistant to the city and county manager in a newly created position, while continuing her lobbying efforts. Four years later, she became the director of the communications and governmental affairs department, and in 2015, she was promoted to assistant city and county manager.

Before that from 1995 to 1999, Hoffman served as chief public relations strategist and project manager for Monaghan & Associates Inc., a public affairs and governmental relations firm in Denver. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver, which she earned in 2011, and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Metro State, which she earned in 1993.

Coming into her new role, Hoffman received a “huge level of support” from Broomfield’s mayor and leadership team, past managers, current and past city councils and the school district, she said. She worked with the past city council for three months, then a new council came on in November 2019 that took on a new policy direction.

Hoffman likes that Broomfield takes an economic vitality, not an economic development, approach, she said. It continuously reinvents itself, moving from a bedroom community to a top healthy and thriving community, without losing its core of being community minded, she said. Broomfield is able to balance that community with its inhabitants and economic and business vitality, she said.

“Broomfield is a tightly networked community. Between our nonprofits and business community, when you’ve been here for a while, everybody knows everyone else,” Hoffman said.

There are more trails than paved streets with the community’s commitment to open space. A new civic center is being developed, called Broomfield Town Square in the heart of Broomfield, with the new Palisade Park development to the north and the redevelopment of Flatirons to the south in a community that spans 27.5 square miles.

In March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Broomfield continued to focus on “superior customer service” and its delivery of city and county services, Hoffman said. The pandemic impacted how Broomfield operates and its long-range financial planning — the city likely won’t know the impact of the pandemic on small businesses and restaurants until two years out, she said.

“We need to make decisions based on an uncertain financial future. That requires a conservative approach,” Hoffman said, explaining that any future economic development and infrastructure needs to be supported by the returning market. “It will be more important than ever to develop projects that are destination-driven and that people want to go to. … It’s experiential development; it’s not topic-driven development.”

Hoffman wants to “do what’s best for the community” and has a “deep love of this community,” she said.

“One of the things that has made me successful is that what you see is what you get,” Hoffman said, adding that her personal and professional selves are integrated and that, as a leader, she is coachable.

“Jennifer constantly surprises all of us with her probing questions and inquisitive approach,” said Jeff Romine, economic vitality director and economist for Broomfield. “I have experienced her as a colleague who comes to each issue and opportunity trying to explore and learn more. In this way, she matches the vision of the community, as a place that is changing and evolving.”

Kathryn Lynip, director of library services and cultural affairs, said Hoffman “had quite the first year to manage.”

“With the coming of the pandemic, she acted quickly and decisively in mobilizing the departments to respond to the changing situation,” Lynip said. “The pace and expectation for staff has been very high and kept our services responsive and relevant throughout the pandemic. Her own tireless commitment has led the way with extensive communication and interactive access for all of our residents.”

Hoffman describes herself as realistically optimistic and a life learner who is vulnerable and wants to surround herself with other leaders, she said. Her leadership style is that of inclusive collaboration and team building.

“My leadership team is not hesitant to say, ‘Hey, hey, you’re way out there,” Hoffman said. “You’ve got to be mindful and intentional and open and willing to say, ‘I don’t know that, but I will find out.’ The higher up you go in leadership, the more vulnerable you need to become.”

As the first woman in the role as CM, Hoffman is in the spotlight, she said.

“I’m much more conducive to putting my nose down,” Hoffman said. “It’s an uncomfortable place to be in the spotlight until you earned it.”

Hoffman comes from a matriarchal family that was more excited about her position than she was, she said.

“So many women have paved the way for me to be in this position, it was secondary, or ‘third-ary,’ if it’s a word. There were always strong females before me,” Hoffman said. “Predominantly city managers are male. My professional life being a lobbyist, just in general, it’s a male-dominated profession.”

Now, though, Hoffman is surrounded by female managers in neighboring communities. And in Broomfield, the leadership team, city council and the community have galvanized since COVID-19, making the most out of a crisis that could have divided but didn’t, Hoffman said.

“When we say stronger together, we mean it from a community perspective, a council perspective,” Hoffman said. “Coming out of COVID stronger literally and figuratively speaking is probably our greatest success.”

Hoffman loves her job for many reasons, or (d), all of the above, she said.

“I love seeing the community healthier, stronger, kinder and that makes it all worth it,” Hoffman said. “I simply could not imagine being anywhere else. I feel about the employees like I do about my family. The best part is watching all of us grow stronger together.”

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