Mayor Andy Weissman said this morning that interim City Manager Lamont Ewell, hired yesterday, will not be a mere placeholder or a caretaker but the authentic, fully-empowered chief executive of Culver City for the next four months, starting on April 1.
“His assignment is to actively run the city,” Mr. Weissman said.
“That includes taking over the initiatives the (outgoing) City Manager has been working on (such as streamlining City Council meetings), to bring forward the parking study for Downtown, to determine the merits of dozens of city commissions” and to take charge of the budget in a deficit situation.
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Mr. Ewell, at his Santa Monica hiring with Judy Franz, Assistant to the City Manager
Approved by the City Council last Monday, Mr. Ewell would have started immediately, except he and wife Mary had made vacation plans for the final week of this month. During the coming week, he will acquaint himself with the unique ways of the people and the systems inside of City Hall.
Seven weeks after retiring from a remarkably successful run as the City Manager of Santa Monica, Mr. Ewell, 56 years old, promptly unretired at the first opportunity. He flew away in late January on the sturdy wings of immense goodwill.
To condense the much-liked Mr. Ewell’s four-year Santa Monica term into a single metaphor: They strewed roses in his path when he arrived from San Diego, and they strewed fresh roses before him when he left.
Keen Distinctions
In style and substance, Mr. Ewell immediately represented a sharp departure from his predecessor, the occasionally salty Susan McCarthy, who, distinctly, was not known for wading in among the masses.
Without fanfare — “it just happened,” said one observer — the Ewell Era dramatically altered that distant, impersonal view of City Hall.
A ubiquitous personality who appeared regularly in the various competing, and sometimes feuding, venues that identify Santa Monica, Mr. Ewell executed a unique pivot. He made a ton of favorable impact with a modest, low-key manner.
Plunging deeply and broadly into the community, he worked assiduously to erase the notion he was an outsider.
He walked the streets, he entered offices and visited at length, shmoozed professional and commercial pillars and their lessers, and he strolled the residential neighborhoods. Within a few weeks, Mr. Ewell — whose career took him from Compton firefighter to Oakland Fire Chief to Durham, NC, City Manager to San Diego City Manager — understood the nuanced breezes of Santa Monica as thoroughly as a native.
From City Hall to the Chamber of Commerce, rivals who used to be on the opposite sides of an impenetrable wall, Mr. Ewell is being crowned with rhetorical halos.
His Grip Is Firm, Prolific, Productive
Santa Monica City Councilman Richard Bloom told the newspaper:
“This is a very smart move on the part of Culver City.
“Lamont is an expert at engaging community dialogue. He understands complex systems, he likes to work collaboratively, he isn't afraid to make decisions, he is of the highest integrity. And he is one of the finest individuals I have ever known.”
Tom Larmore, former Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, said that one of Mr. Ewell’s “most endearing qualities is that he is able to bridge the gaps between people. He has a personal style about him that is appealing.
“When you approach him, you know he is tremendously busy. Yet, when you sit to speak with him, you immediately have the impression that talking to you is his single most important priority.”
In the ‘90s and early Oh-Ohs, progressive ideology was in its high-profile ascendancy on the City Council. By contrast, the Chamber was seen by some progressive advocates as a barely tolerable antique.
“Lamont very much wanted to improve relations between City Hall and the business community,” Mr. Larmore said. “He achieved that by pushing us, by pushing the Council in certain directions. The relations between business and the City Council became much better. People talked to each other.
“He went to lots of community meetings. He spoke to many people all over Santa Monica. He learned the issues, understood them and worked hard to solve them.
“Lamont is an excellent judge of people. He hired a new Police Chief, a Planning Director and good people for his office. He also was very strong on budget issues.”
Laurel Rosen, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said one of Mr. Ewell principal skills is being a listener. “This is a great strength in a leader,” she said.
“I was so impressed by him when we met. He genuinely wanted to know all about me, about my job. Culver City is very lucky to have him.
“He is one of the strongest presences you can imagine walking into a room. Yet, at the same time, he is most unassuming.”
Mr. Ewell will receive the same salary as predecessor Mark Scott (minus the benefits package), $233,000 a year, or $20,000 a month.
For Mr. Ewell, this represents a pay cut. He started in Santa Monica in ’06 at $245,000 annually, and gained cost-of-living increases each year.
By the time his successor, Rod Gould, late of Poway, was signed two months ago, the City Manager’s starting salary was up to $285,000. (Controversially, Mr. Gould’s deal included relocation expenses, temporary housing assistance and a $1.3 million loan to purchase a home.)
Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown owns two of the most politically insightful eyes in town.
He said of Mr. Ewell this morning:
“Getting Lamont, as good as he is, for $233K pro-rated, and without benefits obligations, seems like a pretty good deal.
“I can't speak for the City Council in Culver City, but our thinking in hiring City Managers has been that salary invested in that leadership position will save the City money through having the very best manager making fiscal decisions.
“To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain, the difference between a competent City Manager and an excellent City Manager is the difference between a lightning bug and lightning. Lamont is lightning.”
