See ‘Culver City Takes Its Financial Temperature and Smiles’
Scarcely anything seems to have changed in the professional life of Steve Rose in the 14 months since he was term-limited off the City Council.
He still scrutinizes the breadth of his hometown, and the nerve center, City Hall, as closely as when he was making policy. And as the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, he is as familiar as family with the history of Culver City.
When several City Hall officials asserted last week that Culver City’s finances, in the middle of a wind-blowing recession, are reassuringly solid, Mr. Rose was a logical source to seek out for either confirmation or a contextual opinion.
Authorities said that the city’s rainy-day fund, the Reserve Fund, is brimming. It tops out at 41 percent of the new $83 million fiscal budget approved this week as against the recommended minimum level of 30 percent.
That is not new, Mr. Rose said.
“Over the years, Culver City has been building its Reserve Fund,” he said. “It was an informal thing.
Vera Made It Official
“In the mid-1990s, an action by Council member Albert Vera institutionalized as policy the notion that the Reserve Fund should be a minimum of 30 percent of the general operating budget.
“For perspective, the reserves in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are well above the 30 percent level.
“For years,” Mr. Rose said, “the city has steered a relatively safe, traditional economic model. I don’t believe the General Fund, now or in the past, has had any bonded indebtedness.
“Our fiscal leadership has kept us out of trouble.
“Councils have taken the fiscal responsibility of running our city in a businesslike manner.”
Mr. Rose was reluctant to say that Culver City is better off financially than its neighbors.
“Probably 3 or 4 percent of our General Fund operating revenue is from the transient occupancy tax (TOT), which is a bed tax, about $3 million a year. In a city like Beverly Hills, I’ll bet you their TOT tax is 10 times ours. In this current recession, as our TOT tax has dropped, theirs has dropped, too, but it means they are losing a lot more.”
Three May Take a Bow
Strong swaths of credit for Culver City’s historic stability, said the former Councilman, should go to retired Chief Administrative Officer Dale Jones, who presided at City Hall from the early 1970s until the early ‘90s, Mayor and Councilman Dan Patacchia who dominated the 1960s, and Paul Jacobs, in the ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“All of them were forceful and charismatic leaders,” said Mr. Rose. “But there is something else you should look at.
“Dan Patacchia was the last long-term Mayor of our city, from 1962 until 1968. He was Mayor six of his eight years on the Council, and he was elected three times to two-year terms. He was effective because he used muscle, he used political finesse and his verbal skills.
“Mayor Patacchia was a very traditional Democrat on fiscal matters. He did not go out and spend a lot of money.
“Socially, Dan was out front. He was a realtor. Now take this in the context of 40-some years ago. I believe he was the first realtor in Culver City to sell a house to an African American.
Is Culver City Different?
“When it comes to Dan Patacchia’s legacy, the late County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said it best. On many occasions he said, ‘When I wanted to know what Culver City needed or wanted, I always called up Mayor Dan.’ The relationship between Dan and Supervisor Hahn was like brothers. They were very close.
“After Dan left in 1968, mayors served two-year terms for awhile. Then it went to an every-year rotation. Somewhere in that time frame, the institutional strength of mayors was diminished, which is natural when they are serving only one year.
“The result was that the authority of the CAO in those days, and now the City Manager, was enhanced.”
Mr. Rose did take exception to one suggestion in last week’s City Hall report, that Culver City, by its nature and geography, is insulated from the kind of financial pitfalls that are scuttling other communities.
“The economic restructuring that America is going through affects different cities in different ways,” he said.
“But in a city of just under 5 square miles, surrounded mostly by L.A., I don’t think there is that big of a difference between our city and what happens across the street.”
