Ever since the city was first formed, Culver City residents have had the right to elect the City Clerk and City Treasurer. Measure V would take that right away and give the City Council the unchecked power to appoint whomever they please. This takes away not only our rights, but also important checks and balances in our city government. The only effective checks and balances on elected officials are other elected officials.
The federal government and state governments all have a system of checks and balances with an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Each serves as a check against the irrational exuberance of the other. In city government, the Treasurer watches over our money and the Clerk watches over our elections and safeguards the public’s access to city records. Why would we want to trade an independent person of our choice for someone who is appointed by, and beholden to, the City Council?
Removes department heads from civil service? Right now, civil service protects department heads from being harassed, disciplined or fired without reason. Civil service protection does not protect against negligence or fraud, but it does offer some level of protection against arbitrary, capricious or vindictive behavior. If we want to retain integrity in our city government, we need to provide protection for department heads who speak up and say what needs to be said.
Department heads need to be free from the fear of losing their jobs for making correct, but politically unpopular, decisions or recommendations. Quite simply, taking civil service away can lead to cronyism, nepotism, and self dealing. Again, why would we want to trade those independent, protected voices for more City Council lackeys?
Prohibits the City Council from directing and supervising City department heads? In order to bolster the newly created City Manager position, Measure V would also cut off communications and direction from the City Council. Measure V gives exclusive control of the operations to the City Manager and does not allow the City Council to hold even the department heads accountable. In other words, if Measure V passes, there will no longer be any elected representative of the taxpayers who can hold the department heads accountable. Everything would have to go through the City Manager. Going to a city manager just adds another bureaucratic layer to a cumbersome process of getting things done by our duly elected officials.
Takes away our right to citizen commissions? Measure V makes citizen commissions (like the Planning Commission, Civil Service Commission, Human Services Commission and Cultural Affairs commission) optional at the discretion of the City Council. Again, having resident citizen commissions that look over government’s shoulder and provide review, input and advice from lay people is one of our fundamental checks and balances. These commissions were established — and their continued existence is assured — by our Charter.
Measure V would change the Charter and make citizen commissions optional. Why should we give up this important protection?
Measure V asks us to give up important rights and necessary checks and balances ˆ and doesn‚t even explain why. Vote No on Measure V, on Tuesday, April 11, and hang onto your rights.
Dan Gallagher, Culver City
