Email sent to CRC - CRC Meeting This Week - Glasser 10-26-23Mr. Chair and CRC members:
cc: Mayor Wolfson
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY ALL.
Well folks, in watching last night's video, I definitely could have
worded my email better, but please know I am NOT advocating a change in
the org chart. It kinda sounded like that! I think having our Charter
officers be hired and report directly to the Commission is a tried and
true element of our government. PLEASE do not consider a change to their
ability to operate independently as executive, administrative, or legal
officers.
My suggestion was to allow the CM, by clear direction of the
Commission, to provide some oversight to both the CC and CA, on an
as-needed basis, in areas that the Commission does not have day-to-day
knowledge. After all, while Charter officers are independent, most city
business involves inter-departmental coordination. This is about
efficiency, it is/was not personal, as I hold all the Charters officials
I have worked with in the highest regard and with great affection.
Such coordination was needed in 2022, when the Commission directed
action be taken to conduct a comprehensive records management review.
The CM (and the Deputy CM) and the CA followed direction by the
Commission to hire a consultant, conduct investigation, and make
recommendations. I have attached a resolution for how the Commission
addressed this, so reading it might make the point better.
I thought that, with more clarity in the Charter, there might be better
long-term accountability measures and continuity between Commissions.
Resolutions are often only as good as one's memory.
So, I was absolutely not suggesting a change in how our government
operates. I would rather you do nothing with my concerns than consider
changing the reporting structure.
I plan to come to the next CRC meeting to restate my intent for the
record. You might as well have another mayor weigh in.
Regards,
Ellen G
On 10/24/2023 11:20 AM EDT Ellen Glasser <glassere@comcast.net>
wrote:
Greetings, Mr. Chair & CRC members:
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY ALL.
Looking at this week's agenda, I thought I would remind you of
the suggestion in my outgoing November 2022 memo re: Charter Review:
"Article IV, Section 28. The City Clerk; Duties - Consider
language that the Commission may delegate supervision of some duties of
the City Clerk to the city manager."
In my personal experience, there are duties of the City Clerk
that the Commission has little or no involvement with, e.g. lien
letters, record storage, public record requests, record destruction,
supervision of subordinates. Donna does a great job, but there was
consensus by the last Commission that she take direction from the City
Manager, as requested. Because she is a Charter officer who reports to
the Commission, this is not clear. A resolution might be enough, but
this was reviewed by our previous City Attorney. I think we concurred
it should be in the Charter, as institutional memory of the Commission
is always changing.
Same with the City Attorney. We have also had issues in the past
with the extent of direction the City Attorney takes from the CM, as
well. It was more a fiscal concern in the past, because we were getting
billed hourly after the monthly minimum was met. Not sure how this is
working now. I hope Kevin will weigh in if need be.
I would also hope that the Charter officers would begin to
formally report to the Commission periodically on their workload.
Finally, my experience is more limited in these areas, but I
support clear language on the duties of the Deputy CM and the Deputy CC
if the Charter positions are vacant, or to address removal. I also
support supermajority votes for removal.
Thanks for your service! Happy to answer any questions.
Ellen G
(904) 472-6262