By Kate Callen / Special to OB Rag
It was no surprise that the February 19 lead story in Voice of San Diego [VOSD] lauded Mayor Todd Gloria’s abrupt sacking of Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan.
VOSD is to Gloria what Fox News is to Donald Trump, a media enabler always ready to hawk propaganda wrapped in newsprint.
But the story headline was something of a jolt: “Mayor Dismisses Embattled COO and Takes Reins of City Management.”
Dargan embattled? Since when?
(And really, how can Gloria “take the reins of city management” when he is already a strong mayor who calls all the shots?)
I’m sorry that Dargan is gone. When he was hired in 2022, he seemed an ideal choice for San Diego: an African American military veteran with an exemplary 20-year record as COO of the Houston Public Works Department.
In trumpeting Dargan’s selection, Gloria cited his “passion for public service and ability to get things done.” The announcement emphasized Dargan’s success in overseeing Houston’s “water, transportation and drainage operations,” the very infrastructure projects San Diego neighborhoods badly need and aren’t getting.
So what went wrong?
According to VOSD, Dargan “came under fire earlier this month at a City Council committee meeting.” For what?
I follow local news on all media platforms very closely. If you write for the Rag, and editor Frank Gormlie asks if you’ve seen such-and-such story, you need to answer “Of course.”
But I hadn’t heard Dargan was in trouble. So I combed back through local news archives to catch up.
The only mention I found came from a February 5 VOSD story. The article reported that it was Gloria who came under fire at the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee meeting, and it noted, “Several councilmembers also shared their displeasure that the city’s Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan was not at the meeting.”
Okay, he missed an important meeting. And his annual (Gloria-approved) salary of $448,810, the biggest paycheck at City Hall, gave the Mayor a significant savings with one whack of the axe.
But Dargan did one crucial thing no other city official – not the Mayor, not any Councilmember – seems to think important. He showed up in person at public gatherings. He made himself accessible, and he actively listened to constituents.
To his credit, Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera praised Dargan to VOSD: “He became a consistent presence at these community conversations … I respect that — him being willing to sit and be in a room when you can guarantee no one in the room is gonna say anything nice to you.”
I saw this first-hand at the February 13 Budget Town Hall forum in Lincoln Park. It was a rainy night, and only about 20 people showed up. Dargan was one of them.
Most city officials who attend community meetings leave early. Dargan stayed until the end, and he paid attention to everyone who spoke.
The presence of San Diego’s highest-ranking Black official at a Southeastern forum where a diverse community is still waiting for the city to clean up year-old flood damage sent a powerful message: Somebody who counts cares about you.
Now, as the Mayor strides forth triumphantly with his shiny new power, he would be wise to remember the adage that a fish rots from the head.
He has run out of excuses and scapegoats. He can no longer complain, as he did when 101 Ash Street imploded, that someone misled him. He may continue to blame voters for not passing the Measure E tax hike, but that is wearing very thin.
Mr. Gloria, San Diego’s financial viability is now entirely in your hands. Please don’t screw this up.
Dargan has been in the news for months, especially since making this comment to SDUT last year: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/03/31/a-top-san-diego-official-largely-wants-government-out-of-homeless-services-heres-what-he-hopes-comes-next/
He came up on the Rag just a few months ago, too: https://obrag.org/2024/12/at-his-state-of-city-address-mayor-gloria-bragged-about-a-bold-initiative-to-deal-with-san-diegos-homelessness-so-far-its-only-bought-t-shirts/
Mayor Gloria may well have found a convenient and cost-effective scapegoat here, but to say there has been little to no mention of Dargan in recent criticisms of local government is misleading.
Also – I appreciate that the Rag has some deep lore about local news organizations that I don’t understand and don’t want to, but to interpret the VOSD article as “lauding” this decision seems to be projecting some connotations onto the story that aren’t actually there. Huntsberry writes some very neutral pieces! Not sure what more you would ask a reporter to write without taking a stance on the decision. I know, I know, they “trade publicity” with a nonprofit the Rag dislikes – in a standardized, transparent way, listing any content as a “Partner Voice.” I so appreciate the community reporters that make this possible, but the reactionary, always-displeased nature of seemingly every local story is damaging credibility.
There is nothing Dargan did that Gloria didn’t either support or personally push forward. The homeless philanthropic campaign was a centerpiece of his 2024 state-of-the-city address. It was a gimmick, and it was vintage Todd. Its abject failure can’t be pinned on Dargan. Gloria was his boss. Dargan did Gloria’s bidding.
There’s a saying in journalism: If your mother says she loves you, check it out. To label someone “embattled” without producing evidence to back it up is shoddy reporting. Being in the news for saying audacious things doesn’t mean you’re failing at your job. The highest-ranking African American in city government has been abruptly sacked, apparently without cause. If there’s more to the story, we need facts, not innuendo.
I get it! You hate the mayor! Dargan is a person with a job – he explicitly aimed to lean on private philanthropy in a way that absolutely raised the hackles of some San Diegans last March: “Every resident needs to contribute, he argued. Companies need to flag employees at risk of losing housing. More churches should launch food pantries.” That’s fine! Councilmembers believed he should have been present in more meetings as of two weeks ago: “Several councilmembers also shared their displeasure that the city’s Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan was not at the meeting. Dargan oversees all of the city’s operations and was hired by Gloria.”
Whether or not those are reasons justifying his removal, or in fact whether there need to be justifications beyond a massive budget deficit and a $400k salary, this original article presents his ouster as being entirely unpredictable, which just is not the case.
The problem was the headline that contained the word “embattled,” about which there was nothing in the story. That’s what drew readers and it was unsupported and incendiary.
To be fair, this article’s headline contains the word “praise” but there is little praise to be found :)
You missed the 14th graf: “But Dargan did one crucial thing no other city official – not the Mayor, not any Councilmember – seems to think important. He showed up in person at public gatherings. He made himself accessible, and he actively listened to constituents.”
That is what moved me to write this post. I have seen no evidence that Dargan performed poorly as COO. But I have seen him at community events time and again fully engaged with people and staying until the end. Elo-Rivera is right; Dargan deserves respect for that.
That’s a lot of money for showing up at meetings. Did he actually do anything or respond to anything at the meetings? I think he should have been an active participant for that money.
I remember some years ago that overtime Pay out of hours went to all city employees at evening meetings, and this additional $$ in their paychecks was included in pension calculations. Does anybody know if this is still true? This included Heads of Departments then.
Overtime pay is not included in the pensionable salary that is used to calculate retirement benefits at the City of San Diego. Heads of departments are unclassified and are paid a salary and are not eligible for overtime.
Perhaps the term “Head of Departments” was too specific in asking, “Do they collect overtime for going to meetings?” My question now is, “Was Eric Dargan eligible to be paid overtime for extra attendance at evening meetings?””
No, he wasn’t paid overtime for meetings.
Just an FYI, A City employee has to be “vested”, ie employed for 10 yrs., to get a retirement pension. He won’t qualify. Strong mayor form of government, means he’s the one who hires and fires, at will. Dept. heads/Directors & Asst. Directors do not have Union protection against a surprising termination.
didn’t this same thing happen when the City crews demolished a main/busy two way street in Mira Mesa and turn it into a one way street in the middle of the night? Toddler had just a few weeks prior had hired a new Dept. Director, I believe his name was Jorge Riveros, from TX, with an excellent work related history and Toddler raved about him. The man had sold his house in TX, bought a house in SD, and I remember he was happy to say his oldest daughter had wanted to go to SDSU, and now she could. He uprooted his family for Toddler. Then the Mira Mesa SNAFU happened. The new D.D. was on the local news early in the morning, saying there had been a mistake by the Streets/Transportation Dept. and they would change the street back to a two way street. I thought at the time when I saw that… your days are numbered Mr. Riveros, to appear in front of a TV news camera saying it was a mistake, before Todd. About 2 days later, Toddler was on the news, saying there was not a mistake, it was simply the Dept. had neglected to notify the residents in advance of the change. About a month later I called the City of SD info number, and asked for the number of Jorge Riveros, of the I think it was the Transportation/Streets Dept., I was told he was not the DD, in fact that name was not on the City Roster.
So what’s up with Toddler going to TX to hire people, keep them for a short time, then kick them to the curb? He obviously does not know what qualities to look for in a new hire, or they won’t kiss the south end of the donkey going north. But at the end of the day he’s not qualified to do the hiring and firing and appears to be hiring highly qualified people, so what’s the problem Toddler???
Jorge Riveros was hired by the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department last March as Traffic Services Deputy Director. Good for him — I bet he was glad to get off this sinking ship.
Thanks Kate, I’m glad to know about Riveros success.