Ten years after the City Charter was heavily amended, the City Council will set about sweeping up the final crumbs from the mess the 2006 Council left.
At this evening’s 7 o’clock meeting in Council Chambers, the divided Council is expected to formally advance a proposed major power shift to the Nov. 8 ballot.
Two weeks ago, on the shaky wings of a 3-2 vote, the Council agreed to proposing a charter change that would shift hiring/firing authority over the police chief and fire chief from the Council to City Manager John Nachbar.
Long overdue, Steve Rose, a 2006 City Councilman who is president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said this morning.
“It was a political rather than an operational decision to leave power over the two chiefs in the hands of the Council when we were transitioning from a chief administrator form of government to a city manager form of government,” Mr. Rose said this morning.
“In making the changeover, City Hall has become a more efficient, more effective organization.
Mr. Rose said his assertion is verifiable.
“The city manager has power over all department heads (except the two chiefs),” he said. “When we had a chief administrative officer, each department head was hired and fired by the Council.
Mr. Rose’s face wrinkled. “It really was a bad process,” he said.
