No One Wants to Play with U

By Ann K. Williams
Staff Writer

October 11 -- A consequential change to the city charter seems to be sailing along to the November election without a hint of opposition in a city that usually prides itself on political controversy.

Sponsors of a televised debate on Measure U -- which if passed will allow the city manager to hire and fire department heads at will -- were unable to find any opponents willing to speak against the proposal. So moderator Sandy Jacobson had to play the part of devil’s advocate, as proponents praised the measure in the forum airing on CityTV.

Measure U “is going to bring Santa Monica’s personnel policies up to date so they’re in line with modern management practices,” said City Council member Richard Bloom.

“It’s going to make it easier for our city manager to run the city much more efficiently,” said Bloom, “and in the very unlikely event we have poor performing senior administrators, it’ll allow our city manager to replace those administrators with individuals who are more qualified to do the job.”

The measure is the brainchild of Lamont Ewell, who came on board as city manager in January. After studying the charter and talking to the City Council, City department heads, members of boards and commissions, neighborhood groups and other corporate entities, Ewell proposed the measure to “modernize” the City’s personnel practices, said Bloom.

The document has “nearly unanimous” support, thanks to its extensive vetting, Bloom said. The City Council approved of it in a unanimous vote.

“I’m not sure there really is opposition to this good government measure,” he said. “We’re only looking forward to improvements in the city as a result of these changes.”

All the same, Jacobson managed to think up several objections.

Wouldn’t Measure U give the city manager “enormous power,” stripping department heads of civil service guarantees?

And what about the boards and commissions that, under the current charter provisions, have the power to approve the appointment of the directors of Community and Cultural Services, Human Resources and the Library -- a power they’ll lose if Measure U passes.

The city manager has the responsibility for making sure the City’s well-run, former Mayor Nat Trives answered. If his hands are tied by civil service regulations, he can’t direct day-to-day operations with any real accountability.

Santa Monica “is a municipal corporation,” delivering “public service, public safety” to its residents, Trives said.

“We have our own airport, we have our own municipal bus line, we have areas that are world renowned,” and the city manager is “the CEO of this municipal corporation under the guidance of the City Council,” he said.

If it passes, Measure U will also expand the hiring pool available to the city manager, allowing the City to consider outside applicants and allowing it to consider more than three applicants for top management positions.

It will also allow the City to fill an empty manager’s position with a temporary hire for 180 days – up from 90 days – so that there’s ample time to look for the “best and brightest” candidates, Bloom and Trives added.

The ballot for the November 7 election shows no rebuttals or arguments in opposition to Measure U.

The debate, such as it was, was co-sponsored by CityTV, the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica Education Fund and the Center for Governmental Studies.

CityTV is making its election programming available with prime time airings on cable channel 16, 24/7 airings on cable channel 75, video-on-demand on Time Warner Cable, and on its election website www.smvote.org.