By Orville
You guys need to let the city manager thing go.
San Diego was able to generate plenty of scandals under that system too, and you all know full well they’d just hire a lackey anyway – one we couldn’t vote out every four years.
Pining for a model used by mid-size cities is waste of everyone’s time. 1.4 million people live here. It’s not getting on the ballot. The ship has sailed.
What we really need is *more* elected officials: expanded city council, some at-large council seats, citywide-elected auditor, etc.
I know it’s a hard sell, but the more politicians you mix together, the more they start checking each other, even if it’s only out of sheer ambition and self-preservation.
The bigger the pond is, the tougher it is for any one faction to maintain control.
Maybe it’s counterintuitive, but I guarantee you this would make the city act more like you want it to – certainly more so than finding a mythical, unelected manager who’s somehow beyond politics.
Years ago, when I worked for the City Heights CDC, I sat in Jack McGrory’s office at the top of city hall — and his desk was as clean as a whistle. He was able to delegate everything.
You can’t use that absolutely toxic stew of Jack McGrory and Susan Golding as a yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of the city manager system in the history of San Diego.
We have had some awful people in politics in this city and Golding sits at the very bottom. McGrory did whatever she wished because, it appeared at one time, that Golding’s star would rise above little San Diego. Thankfully for the entire world, she crashed and burned spectacularly.
You need more than this period to make a reasonable argument, Orville.
Are you saying that McGrory was Golding’s enabler when she arranged a disastrous Republican convention in San Diego?
Do you want to get me started?
One of the huge wastes of money she ordered before that convention was to place asphalt seal on all the city streets within reach of any conventioneers. I had a project to place fiber optic conduit down India Street. In advance of that work, we would send two-man crews to look at the surface markings and dig down to verify the buried utility and it’s depth, called pot-holing. The crews spray painted the depth information on the pavement for the trenching crew. We were never notified of the sealing. Came in and found an entire week’s worth of work gone, covered up. And, not patching or crack sealing was done in advance of the seal. It was criminal.
Geoff I’m certain that’s a story that has never been told publicly before. We’re also in a city discussion about ‘strong mayor’ vs city manager. The UT editors have said Gloria’s failures show why the city ought to return to the city manager system, yet Orville has explained why we need not do that.
Orville has provided an opinion, not an explanation. He does have some good ideas about other improvements.
He was an enabler for anything Golding wanted. He did not work for the citizens.
Shortly after Gloria was elected he quietly hired a City Manager for over $200K a year salary. He hired another high wage earner at the same time, and I can’t remember that one’s “title”. We NEED a mayor that is not beholden to special interest groups. Has a way to just say “no”, go thru the revenue sources, and see where the money is being spent. Limit spending to NEEDS and shelve the WANTS. The man ready for the job is
larryturnerformayor.com For those who live in Council Dist. 9, vote for Terry Hoskins. He and Larry are on the same page…. for the PEOPLE, neither one are career politicians. Don’t vote for any incumbents. We need new eyes, and ears at City Hall.
The only thing I know about turner is that he was a marine. We know he can bellow out orders. Was he a type A or C marine? Does he have a college education? Does he have any business experience?
I know he was a Lt Col.
As a good friend reminded me over the weekend, there were 3 additional city managers who followed McGrory — none who had the gravitas or staying-power as McGrory.
McGrory was only there during Golding’s terms as mayor. He got out before she did. He left right after the disastrous Republican convention, probably realizing her wagon was on fire.
The city manager form of government San Diego use to have, was adopted in the early 1900 after a corruption scandal involving trash pickup in San Diego.
Until we voters were conned by the developers ten years ago, the city manager forced mayors to follow the law when the developers came up with ways to get city owned land.
Falconer and Gloria are the result of the devopers buying the mayors office so that they can steal city owned land. Without a city manager we have 101 Ash st, 1401 Market, the list goes on.
Anyone who does not support the idea of a city manager form of government is on the payroll of the big developers in this city or under the delusion that our mayor does what is best for our city.
Well said. I totally agree.