By Andy Weissman, Alan Corlin, Steve Rose, Ed Wolkowitz, Mehaul O’Leary, Paul Jacobs.
As former mayors of Culver City, we urge Culver City voters to join us in supporting Measure CA on Tuesday’s ballot.
In 2006, the voters approved changing our City Charter and our system of governance to a City Council-Manager form of government. The Council hires, supervises and fires a professional full-time city manager to run the affairs of the city.
The city manager, in turn, hires, supervises and disciplines the department heads.
The part-time City Council focuses on policy matters. It holds the city manager accountable for carrying out its policies.
Because this was such a dramatic change for the city, the police chief and the fire chief were exempted. However, it was always the thought that the community would revisit the issue at a later time.
When a Council subcommittee looked over the charter this year after the change had been in place for 10 years, it recommended the police chief and the fire chief also be placed under the city manager.
A majority of the Council agreed. Thus Measure CA appears on Tuesday’s ballot.
This is not a dramatic or unusual change.
In fact, we are the ones who are out of step with our neighbors. In all comparable surrounding cities — Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo and Torrance — the police chief and the fire chief report to the city manager.
Among cities that contract for safety services through the County – West Hollywood, Malibu, Hawthorne, Lomita and Lawndale – services are under the aegis of the city manager.
The argument in favor of the change is simple.
As a part-time City Council, the members’ focus should be on policy development. The day-to-day management of the city should be left to the professional fulltime city manager..
For 99 years, Culver City has enjoyed a beneficial partnership with the fire and police departments. People who live and work in Culver City have honored and counted on their public safety personnel.
Our fire and police personnel, in turn, have counted on the people of Culver City for the support and oversight their departments deserve. Measure CA is an extension and strengthening of that partnership.
We urge you to vote Yes on Measure CA.
If we had changed the role of the city manager when we became a charter city at the turn of the century, it would have given Jerry Fulwood the power to oversee, hire and fire the chiefs of Police and Fire departments.
Fortunately, for us, he didn’t have such power!
So, does that mean that these six past-mayors are endorsing having someone like Jerry Fulwood to be our city manager in the future?
It would have been wrong then, and it would be wrong in the future.
Vote NO on Measure CA!
As we have recently observed through email traffic from a then current City Council member and a Department Head, Department Heads can be privately bullied by a single Council Member into actions that are unethical and illogical. That’s what Measure CA is all about. It is a trick. The only politician who ever gave up power was George Washington in 1798. Vote No on Measure CA.