The former Mayor is among numerous persons who have said that the transition from one form of government to another is not complicated — except that there is not a consensus over what direction to take.
Mr. Wolkowitz was a member of the Charter Reform Committee that created the new Charter, which was solidly passed last month by voters when it was known as Measure V. An attorney, Mr. Wolkowitz said that no element of Measure V becomes official until the state accepts last month’s election results. He pegged the acceptance date as July 1. Where that leaves Mr. Fulwood in the meanwhile is not clear. His present contract expires early next month. When a slim majority of Council members awarded him a new three-year agreement last January, they intended for it to take effect when the present contract ends. They did not, however, create a device for transferring Mr. Fulwood from the CAO to the City Manager. Only two Council members, Alan Corlin and Steve Rose, believe the changeover is a simple housekeeping matter, mere paperwork. “My impression,” said Mr. Rose, “is that (the changeover) is a done deal. My assumption at the time was that if Measure V passed, this would be just a pro forma matter.” Said Mr. Corlin, even more emphatically: “This is a big nothing. Jerry will be the City Manager. Period.”
Weissman, Corlin and Rose All Agree
Andy Weissman, Chair of the Charter Review Committee, concurs with the two City Councilmen that the transfer is no more than a blip. Or, as he more colorfully phrased it, “Those who were in charge when the music stopped would continue to occupy their chairs for the foreseeable future. It is no more complex than a name change.” Mr. Weissman’s Committee did not specifically address the subject of Mr. Fulwood’s job status. “The intention of the Committee,” Mr. Weissman said, “never was tailored to the individual but rather to institutional analysis.”
Mr. Rose’s recollection of events at the time of the January contract extension indicated that circumstances called for caution to be exercises. “If we had made a plan then,” he said, “it could have been regarded by people as presumptuous. My thought process was that we should wait until the election and see what the people would decide.” He acknowledged that actions surrounding the method and date of transition for Mr. Fulwood were “vague. Nothing was concrete.” Waiting for the election results was the right strategy, in Mr. Rose’s opinion. ‘I took that as a neutral stance,” he said. If the City Council had plotted a transfer of power plan, he said, “it could have been used against us during the Measure V campaign.”
Three Potential Directions
Mr. Wolkowitz said his reading of the new City Charter suggests that “once the state accepts the Charter, there is no CAO anymore.” In determining Mr. Fulwood’s future — contract or not — Mr. Wolkowitz said the City Council needs to choose one of three alternatives:
(a)Naming Mr. Fulwood Interim City Manager. ”This would be the easiest model to follow,” the former Mayor said.
(b)Naming Mr. Fulwood Interim City Manager while conducting a search for a permanent person.
(c ) Naming Mr. Fulwood the City Manager unconditionally.
“One could also take the position that if the City Council did nothing when the new Charter becomes official, there is no Chief Operating Officer,” Mr. Wolkowitz said.
