Jeff Muir, who has made a favorable splash as Culver City’s first Chief Financial Officer, probably will fool his raft of friends when he returns to work fulltime in his hometown, Inglewood City Hall, in a few days.
Mr. Muir, for those who have not inspected him close-up since he left the coziness of Inglewood two years ago, is barely two-thirds of the man he was.
Which had nothing to do with why his old Inglewood bosses chased him down to Culver City, promised to restore his old title and fattened his duties by tacking on a new title. They sugared the deal by shoveling in a hefty raise when they recruited him last month.
As they intended and suspected, Mr. Muir could not say no. Next week is his Culver City auld lang syne.
During his 13 1/2-year first term in Inglewood, Mr. Muir — the external softness of his personality notwithstanding — developed an easygoing rapport and forged professional relationships that were virtually impossible to duplicate in a new setting.
As the Assistant City Administrator, Inglewood came to rely on him in a way that they, too, have found tough to replicate.
The panacea was to reunite.
Urgency in Inglewood
When Inglewood was recruiting him, they told Mr. Muir that there has been a distinct lack of candid financial information being relayed since he jumped to Culver City.
“We need you now,” they said, the four most beautiful words in the language to a young man, a hometown hero, who had upward mobility in mind for his young family.
When Mr. Muir returns home, his freshly enlarged title will read:
“Assistant City Adminstrator/Chief Financial Officer.”
This time he may have to stay longer than 13 1/2 years, until clever people figure a way to cram the whole name of his job into a single line that fits on his desk.
A strapping 6-foot-2 former athlete, Mr. Muir signed up for a 20-week diet program last winter. He meant to rid himself not only of an uncomfortable spare tire but of most of what was in his trunk. Sort of a personalized cash-for-clunkers strategy.
At 39 years old, Mr. Muir’s striking demeanor resembles that of a church mouse. So does he — almost — after shedding a cool 80 pounds and a pocketful of undesirable habits.
Lighter Weight but No Lightweight
At a svelte target weight of 215 pounds following half a year of an intense daily training regimen, Mr. Muir’s weight is where he wants to be.
When it comes to career geography, though, Mr. Muir is not. Hence, his impending happy return to Inglewood. v The worldwide recession has marred most of Mr. Muir’s brief stay in Culver City, almost as if gremlins inside City Hall had handcuffed the Chief Financial Officer and then ordered him to applaud until his shoulders became fatigued.
City Manager Mark Scott and Mayor Andy Weissman both lauded Mr. Muir for steering City Hall finances with candor and clarity through some of the rockiest waters the city ever has experienced.
Hired by now-retired City Manager Jerry Fulwood shortly after the City Charter was dramatically revised, Mr. Muir was responsible for overseeing the sensitive reorganization of responsibilities for Culver City finances — replacing the entrenched, some said sprawling, Treasurer’s office with a new, tighter, refocused department of finance.
“I knew Jeff was a good administrator when he supervised this changeover without losing a step,” Mayor Weissman said.
Anotrher bonus of having Mr. Muir on call, said the mayor, “came las year when we began to deal with post-employment benefit issues. For separate reasons, they had not been acknowledged previously in the budget the way they should have.
“Here was another example of how Jeff’s expertise allowed the city to navigate seamlessly from the old system to a new, streamlined system that is far more realistic.”
In these recessionary times, both the Mayor and City Manager said Mr. Muir’s ability to deliver horrible financial news in an unvarnished, unstinting manner, made him unusual and valuable.
Which is why Inglewood wants him back.
Mr. Scott told the newspaper today:
“Jeff Muir has distinguished himself as a highly insightful analyst of city and state economies. He's been conscientious in presenting the realities of budget challenges while committing to work with other teammates and the community to put us on a more realistic financial path. Jeff is a highly regarded member of our staff, and he will be very much missed.”
For the immediate future, said Mr. Scott, “I will serve as Acting CFO while we decide how to proceed with recruiting a successor. I will be conferring with the City Council on this shortly.”
