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minutes 02-05-00Page 25 of 66
<br />RAY: Oh, come on, it’s a couple of hours of guff they have to take. But, the bottom line is you have to have a pretty strong
<br />reason not to confirm.
<br />HIGASHI: The last Public Works Director was 5-4.
<br />YUEN: It’s happened.
<br />HIGASHI: Yes. It’s happened.
<br />RAY: It has happened, but I think, in terms of a balance of power -
<br />HERKES: Are we putting the Managing Director in charge of this County? And are we getting somebody that’s experienced
<br />in management that the Council gets to confirm? And if they are experienced in management, do they get to pick a team that
<br />will work well, or do they have to conform to the wishes of the Council? It’s a real big question.
<br />RAY: I think what they have to conform to is the wishes of the Mayor. We’re not changing the nature of the strong Mayor
<br />form of government. The Mayor’s still the CEO, and that’s who the Managing Director answers to. We’re not suggesting that
<br />the Managing Director appoint Department Heads, as would a Council Manager form of government, so that’s a whole
<br />different animal. You can put in there that the Managing Director can have input, or make recommendations, but the Mayor’s
<br />the guy picking his team so the Mayor’s the guy in charge. That’s not where we’re going. We’re, sort of, headed in that
<br />direction.
<br />HERKES: That’s where I’m going.
<br />RAY: A hybrid, but the bottom line is that the Mayor is in charge. Let me share, I was talking at the break about this, two
<br />conversations I had in the last couple of months. I was at the Hawaii Association of Counties Conference on Kauai and a guy,
<br />Vernon Gray, was there. And Vernon is the head of the National Association of Counties, the big enchilada. I had a long
<br />conversation with him about Charter stuff, and I told him we were really considering the Council Manager form of
<br />government, and he, kind of, chuckled and shared some stuff with me. He said, yeah, you know, that was really a popular
<br />move at one time, couched in government reform, and this and that, but he said more and more people are finding it is not as
<br />an efficient way to run government as with a strong Mayor/CEO. And I got an article from Jay Sasan just yesterday, as well,
<br />about a Managing Director position in Northern Virginia, where a guy who’s one of the top Managing Directors in the
<br />country - he was in Hampton, Virginia and he then went to Fairfax County, which is a large Northern Virginia County with a
<br />two billion dollar budget, da, da, da, da, but it’s kind of similar to us in that it’s a large county that has very divergent
<br />districts, or poor and rich, it has single member supervisors so they’re representing their specific constituencies that are very
<br />different in the county, and this guy, arguably one of the hottest managers in the country, just suddenly left after a year and a
<br />half, and said, you know, I just can’t work with this situation; it’s just too many bosses, and whatever. So, I just want to share
<br />with that. I don’t think the Council Manager’s the silver bullet.
<br />IRVINE: John, do we get a copy of this article?
<br />RAY: Yes. But anyway, I did just want to pass this on to you. But, to answer Marni’s question, what we’re recommending
<br />does not change the current levels of authority and the basic powers of the Mayor. I think what it, hopefully, does is
<br />encourages the Mayor to use the Managing Director more as a City Manager type, or a Chief Operating Officer. But it
<br />doesn’t make him do that.
<br />SANTANGELO: John, just to speak to that just real quick. We’ve got a thing coming up on this Council make-up, and again,
<br />the public can decide, or not decide, and it’s controversial for their kind of government. But as a Commissioner looking at
<br />this proposal that’s on the table right now with this Managing Director, I have a stake in it because I think we’re going to be
<br />better off with this. And so, it’s how do we couch this that makes it also passable. Is there a point of no return, where we go
<br />so far where it becomes controversial, and where you’ve stopped is a place where I’d be very proud to have brought this
<br />county to. So I speak strongly to what’s been proposed. Roland has asked for a compromise in there. We’ve gone along with
<br />that. Chris is going to flesh out the other part with Steve and Marni’s suggestions in that area, and I’d ask if we could move
<br />on on this particular thing. I think it’s a good thing, and it will be good on the ballot.
<br />RAY: Discussion?
<br />HIGASHI: I think we’re almost there. It’s a matter of whether it’s confirmed or not confirmed by the Council.
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