One of the last acts of the previous City Council was to endorse four amendments to the City Charter for the Nov. 8 ballot.
One of the first acts of the new City Council – with two freshman members on the five-person dais – was to say whoa. Let’s take another look.
At this evening’s 7 o’clock Council meeting in Council Chambers, anchored by a dense agenda, Mayor Jim Clarke and his four colleagues will listen to community protests before deciding whether these four proposed changes will be ballot-bound:
- Regarding the hiring and firing of police and fire chiefs, should the responsibility be shifted from the Council to City Manager John Nachbar?
- Should a Council member who resigns during his term be barred from seeking office for four years from the date he quits?
- Should term limits be expanded from eight years to 12?
- Should the City Council determine regular meeting dates?
Council members also will debate, with public pushback, the merits of a parcel tax linked to compliance with a stormwater purification regulation.
Mr. Clarke said this morning that he could not predict a clear path, up or down, for any of the five.
Mr. Nachbar, the city manager, spoke cogently about the difference that will take place if/when he is allowed to hire and discharge chiefs.
“The ability to hire and fire an employee has a significant amount of influence on your ability to supervise that employee on a day-to-day basis,” Mr. Nachbar said.
What was the animating force?
As members of the previous Council “spent more time in office and had more interactions with other cities throughout the state, they learned how unusual the arrangement here in Culver City is,” Mr. Nachbar said.
The resignation-and-re-run-for-office ban sprang from the case several years ago of Councilman Scott Malsin. He authored the only resignation in modern times from the Council, but was rebuffed by voters when he later sought to return.
