Sandi served the City of Cedar Rapids for 33 years, retiring as Deputy City Manager in 2022. She provided executive management to the departments of Community Development, Building Services, Development Services, Public Works, Human Resources, and Transit.

Sandi played prominent roles in the response and recovery to two natural disasters affecting Cedar Rapids. The flood of 2008 resulted in $5.4 billion in damage to the community, and Sandi led facility rebuilding efforts and planning and implementation of the $1.1 billion flood control system. The 2020 derecho resulted in the destruction of two-thirds of the city’s tree canopy, and Sandi led the development of ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, a 10-year public and private tree planting strategy.

Sandi has worked with FEMA to develop training for cities responding to disasters, and with the National Academy of Sciences to apply lessons learned from the experiences of communities affected by disaster to improve readiness and response.