Continuation
Then quietly but very, very firmly, she encouraged the fire to keep burning.
Mayor Alan Corlin was the only member of the City Council who deigned to tangle with her.
Returning fire with fire, he issued one of the strongest rebukes in recent memory by one member toward another.
Motivation
It is obvious, he told this newspaper, there is another agenda going on. Perhaps before she is off the Council (Ms. In April), she will be honest and tell us what it is.
As often has been the case before, Ms. Gross did not attract a single strand of support from her disapproving colleagues in choosing to joust over the City Manager.
The genial Mr. Fulwood, operating in a milieu where he generally has been regarded as modestly reimbursed, won a $42,000 pay raise, to $226,105, by a 4 to 1 vote.
Here are the terms:
His annual salary is computed at $214,105.
Additionally, he receives $12,000 as executive officer of the Redevelopment Agency, bringing his true salary to $226,105, up from $184,000 since he signed a second three-year agreement last year.
In an apparent bargaining gesture, Mr. Fulwood, who is on vacation this week, offered to pass on his $8,000 car allowance in order to drive a less luxurious city-owned LNG car.
In exchange, he asked for and received the ability to collect all unused sick leave upon his resignation or retirement.
This calculation does not include medical benefits, which are believed to bring the City Managers complete compensation to about $275,000.
Notably, this total still leaves Mr. Fulwood behind the city manager of Beverly Hills, who receives more in pure salary for fewer official responsibilities than Mr. Fulwood cumulatively.
Middle of the Field
The Culver City numbers for Mr. Fulwood, opening his fifth year at the top of City Hall, seem to place him in mid-range among the 11 L.A. County cities that Personnel Manager Serena Wright and her staff conventionally use to conduct salary surveys.
Ms. Gross has criticized Mr. Fulwood, who lives out of town, for not being intimately enough involved in Culver City life outside of working hours.
Fulltime Work
Chiming in with a countering voice, Councilman Steve Rose said that, like a mother, the City Managers work never is over. We are paying Mr. Fulwood for a 24/7 job, Mr. Rose said.
The opening minutes of the final budget hearing left a malodorous taste with some of Ms. Grosss teammates.
One of the ugliest scenes I have ever witnessed on the dais, a colleague who did not want to be identified said after the meeting.
Surprise Outcome
Another Councilman remarked that Ms. Grosss rockribbed stance against a raise was curious in view of the fact she spent 2 1/2 hours huddling with Mr. Fulwood earlier on Thursday.
What distinguished this rejection of a Fulwood improvement from earlier ones was that it was authored in such an uncharacteristically passive voice by Ms. Gross.
Three Council members fairly ignored the potenial brouhaha, barely taking note of Ms. Grosss resistance.
A Chance to Back Away
In a spirit of mediation and face-saving appearance, Mayor Corlin offered her a way out of what felt like a deepening mess.
Presenting bifurcation as an option, Mr. Corlin said he could call for separate votes on Mr. Fulwoods raise and on the budget for the next two fiscal years. This would spare forcing Ms. Gross into a presumably untenable position where she would have to vote against a budget that she otherwise largely agreed with.
Quickly and clearly, Ms. Gross refused, saying that she needed to make a statement about how solidly she was against improving the City Managers financial lot.
Two Other Reasons
In objecting to Mr. Fulwoods raise on grounds of principle, the Vice Mayor said the proposal was exacerbated by the fact that the City Manager is making his immediate environment top-heavy with executives, as she had predicted, and he has eliminated support staff members.
Besides, Ms. Gross said, she has wider support. She reported that she had received a bundle of messages from the community in the last two weeks. The implication was that residents sided with her in opposing Mr. Fulwoods increase.
Who Called?
In a tart exchange, the Mayor pressed her for specific citations. The Vice Mayor refused.
The Mayor, no rookie at parrying torrid rhetoric with the Vice Mayor, used the opportunity to chide her about the legendary frequency with which she visits City Hall.
When the Mayor further brought up contrary examples of Ms. Grosss voting patterns from earlier years, the Vice Mayor abruptly ended the dialogue.
You can do the Corlin twist, she said, or we can vote.
One Against Four
Ms. Grosss almost-calendared beefs over routine and larger changes in Mr. Fulwoods workplace stand out not only for their vehemence but because they occur at all.
By contrast, her four teammates get along professionally with Mr. Fulwood with like brothers, like brothers who cannot remember the last year they quarreled. surprise, lit a low-burning flame over the subject of Mr. Fulwood.
