Second of two parts
Re “First Inspection of Nachbar, the New City Manager”
As the just-certified chief executive of Culver City, John Nachbar, 54 years old, is spending his first City Hall week doing what you would expect, “talking to a variety of people, getting to know them.”
Do you have a sense of Culver City, the issues and the rhythms of the Westside?
“Only what I have picked up the last couple of months since being hired. Prior to interviewing for this position, I was only familiar with places I had visited, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. I also had been to Laguna Beach.”
How do you familiarize yourself with the primary issues of the community, starting with the Police Union vs. the Police Chief?
“Spend time with many individuals. I am going to want to absorb as many perspectives as I can. I form opinions both in the rational part of my thinking and my gut instincts are really important. Those don’t function unless I have an adequate amount of input from others.
“This job exists in a political environment. I try to accomplish things in a way that will be politically acceptable to the environment I am in.
“I need to spend as much time as I can absorbing as much information as I can from people who are stakeholders here.”
Have you laid out a timeline, a calendar goal for being comprehensively educated?
“I will be reasonably up to speed within a month. Then it becomes like peeling layers of an onion. A year or two from now, I definitely will be more up to speed. You can’t get through all the layers that quickly.”
You said that early in your career, being an administrator was more appealing than entering politics. Why?
“I was more attracted to being an executive. The political component is more involved with a public persona in trying to respond to policy issues. I am more interested in execution of policy, in having the ability to marshal the resources of an organization, all the people and the power, to accomplish an objective.”
Does that make you a wonk?
“There definitely is a wonkish component to my personality.”
Are you on the shy side?
“Could be.”
You would rather be offstage than in the spotlight?
“I will be out front if that is where the elected officials want me to be. I am most comfortable being out front if I know I am out front in a way that the elected officials are comfortable. I really am not uncomfortable out front. I am willing to speak on controversial issues, to take risks. My view of being City Manager is, I serve those elected officials.
“If I am out front, I need to be confident I have the backing, that I am not marching down a path they may not be comfortable with. That would be inappropriate, counter to our form of government. I am not an elected official.”
What have you learned in earlier career stops you may apply in Culver City?
“Even though no two communities are the same, one similarity between Albany (CA) and Culver City is that they are smaller cities in a large urban area. I am beginning to perceive there is a bit of a small town feel here. People value it. I can tell it is prized. Albany had the same kind of environment.”
What will be your approach to the Police Chief Dispute? What should your role be, if any?
“Just like I was describing earlier, it’s going to be really important for me to speak to as many people as possible. I will try to absorb as many perspectives as I can. I don’t know what role I should be playing at this point. I am going to have to find out what might be expected of me. It may be I should play no role. I don’t know. Ultimately, that is up to the elected officials.”
Will you call in the police union board and the Police Chief, obviously separately at this point, to gain a sense of the situation?
“I would not rule out anything.”
