Okay, I'm just starting this post so it will be easier to follow. To get all the nuances as to how we got here, read the 27 comments under I Now Know the True Meaning Of Eye Sore.
As Doktorbombay asked, that post is ostensibly about the appeal of the colors at Eagle Place; out of curiosity I'm intrigued at any planning direction they were given regarding the choice. To continue that subjective debate, please return to that post.
THIS POST: The Nature of City Council and Staff relations: who is in charge, who answers to who? Kerry Bensman said: "Finding out what is going on in city government is like peeling the onion and putting large puzzles together. Over the years, I have been amazed at what comes to light and how long it takes to get at the information."
Frank Phillips said: "I suggest he speak up at council and make motions to fix what he, as a member of council and therefore one of the leaders of the city, is responsible for. Banging away at staff is like punching yourself in the face."
Alex Schatz said: "it really grates on me that we actually have some discussion of it now when there was deafening silence on making that policy choice iron-clad back in 2005."
Chris Cameron said: "I'm not sure why Councilor Bensman remembers the sole focus of his orientation being on the appropriate way to communicate with staff. It was certainly mentioned in our orientation, but the vast majority of our time was spent learning about the operations and issues critical to the city."
I say staff in any community wields the true power! They all know this! Exhibits A & B: Not having the Rec Center's budget line itemed for analysis in Lafayette; Boulder Utilities Dept. "unable" to detail where an additional $1 million in revenue has come from (not counting the $1 million accidental overcharge to one customer); that's just two off the top of my head...
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9 comments:
The administration of modern American local government can be very strong. That's not entirely unexpected or negative, just a fact.
Theoretically, the decision to give X amount of power to administrative staff is made through a democratic process. There is a choice. And there was a time before when elected officials almost everywhere, and in Lafayette, had a more direct role in the administration of the city.
So I get steamed, too, when there's an issue with the way power is delegated that is unsatisfactory, yet no one wants to talk about it. It happens occasionally, and no one will agree more strongly than me with someone who argues we ought to be aware of how this balance is working or not.
I have raised my voice in support of careful consideration of the way we write our Charter. This is an important source of authority for the administration. You can only complain so much about not having access to the administration if the City does not provide for that access in its fundamental law.
For those think reform is in order, consider the alternatives: We could have a strong political administration, as in Denver, with an elected mayor who serves as the chief executive. We could have a full-time, paid council, who could maybe fight with the mayor to run the City, or maybe we could have the “Strong Council” that is still called for by the City of Lafayette Charter.
Is it sacrilege to mention these options? I guess I will find out.
Am I advocating drastic change? No. Did Hickenlooper manage to change the world of parking in Denver, his number one (and only, that I remember) campaign promise? The grass is always greener...
Realistically, Lafayette is somewhere in the middle on the spectrum of strong to weak political bodies. Rule by elected officials has its ups and downs. Those who end up being dissatisfied with administrative decisions (like approval of the paint color at Eagle Place) may feel differently, but the de facto City Manager form of government we have in Lafayette (despite what the Charter still says) makes sense as a general proposition. It is possible to fine tune the relationship better in Lafayette, but it does make sense to have a well-managed City.
When one takes a step back, it amazes me how elected officials so easily fall into the trap of squabbling over politics. Meanwhile the municipal machine grinds along, making major decisions in the background with little to no attention paid. None of this is a knock on administrative staff, but it must be tempting for administrative officials to keep the politicians occupied with an agenda.
Alex, the alternative you missed is to maintain a responsible oversight and take corrective action when necessary. But it takes four out of seven to agree that corrective action is necessary and then agree as to the remedy staff proposes.
Now this was done to save our golf course from going out of business and to refocus our Rec Center operations to be more self-sustaining. The original request for the new PD station was for $10M to build a station that would be fully occupied in 30 years. We cut it to $6M and the voters agreed. We brought the ambulance service in house which took two years. We got the senior center remodeled. We also got the staff to put a budget impact statement on every proposal they made.
Lastly we actually started to spend quality workshop time on key items instead of having to decide on them three business days after we were first informed of the item. At the two workshops discussing the proposed bond for roads, we actually got a ten year revenue and expense projection. Finally.
To make the changes, a majority of the council has to agree and then the staff has to agree to implement them. And like any other bureacracy, sometimes they don't. All bureacracies have inertia in them. There is always tension between the elected folks and the governmental employees. The personnel laws favor the employees and they know it.
In Lafayette, councils change every two years. The staff rarely does. And frankly, no matter what structure you pick, it is not easy to find out what's really going on, especially across the breadth of even this city government. For example, sit down and read the city budget book for this year. There are sections missing in the executive section and the data is incomplete. It wins awards.
So we do the best we can as part time civilians. Just the way it is.
Oh, to make things interesting, our Library has been the number one victim of our budget process. Maybe someone will pick up the gauntlet and run with it.
That Kerry Bensman would spend his city council orientation being told how wants him to communicate sounds very plausible. He had been an activist and agitator for many years. It is reasonable to think that he would be treated differently than a new council member who came from the ranks of local PTA and city boosterism.
Alex brings up a good idea. Why don't we change the way our mayor is selected? I would like to have the city vote on who the mayor is, not have the council choose their buddy.
By the way, my history as an "agitator" began as a civilian trying to get two red stop signs posted on a dangerous intersection in my neighborhood. It had been the site of several near collisions. The traffic study said it should be done. The traffic islands had been installed by the developer. No signs.
I was told by the Public Works director that there was no money in the city budget to pay for the signs (around $200 or so). So I got a copy of the city budget book and found the city had $10,400,000 in its General Fund surplus. Out of 250 pages, there was one half page devoted to that simple fact.
Five years later, the signs were installed. The police chief at the time opposed this.
Now if public safety had been addressed initially, none of you would have to put up with me.
True story.
Dan,
For some reason you chose to re-post Councillor Cameron's comment saying all I remembered from my orientation was the meeting with the city admin, finance director, and economic development director.
Of course, that is not what I said and is untrue. Councilor Phillips may remember our meeting with the Director of Parks and Rec at the time which later spurred the council to motivate the city to put the Rec Center on a sounder financial foundation and get the subsidy under control. My tour of the Police Station caused me to support the PD bond issue and work with their action committee on the campaign strategy in support of a new station. My tour of the Fire Station with its state of the art TV and sound system gave me pause as to whether I should hang out there on Friday nights (Of course it's there to deal with the periods of boredom our fire fighters deal with on their 24 hour shifs. Great food and a well stocked refrigerator too). But it also showed the difference in treatment between the PD and the FD. The city attorney at the time had some intersting anecdotes of what to expect on the Liquor Authority. I also had to be finger printed since the Council is also the Board of Directors of the golf course. The Library tour was fascinating and to this day, I am puzzled as why it ends up on the bottom of the budget priorities.
The reason that admin meeting was interesting was it was also to be attended by Dave Schneller who was the most outspoken in opposition to me. He didn't show and later resigned. It also involved the Planning Director who had badly mishandled the Bateman-Domenico development proposal (not enough room to outline all of that) and the Finance Director who I had challenged on a number of the city's financial issues amd the reporting of such. So obviously the meeting was structured to try to keep peace in the "family" and get things off to a amicable start.
Just for clarity...
Three days ago Mr. Bensmas said:
"When a new councillor [sic] is oriented by the city admin, that's what we hear about. Not what are the important issues the city faces but the communication protocol. When I had my orientation with the city admin, finance director, and economic development director, that was the topic. (I don't make this stuff up)."
Sorry for the misinterpretation.
Oops, that is "Bensman..." Sorry, Kerry.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Bensmas!
I know my involvement started by city staff not being held accountable for some of their questionable activities. I don't see everything that goes on on the inside, but it appears staff runs the show and although they're supposed to answer to city council, they really know who's the boss - and they aren't elected.
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