Letter to the Editor: "I Believe We Should Support Our City Manager"

-By Lori Chinn

We now have a council-manager type of city management with the City Manager functioning as the chief administrative officer and responsible to the City Council. The City Manager has the power to appoint and remove all department heads.

According to the League of California Cities, a survey conducted in 2010, it found that the council-manager form of city government is in place in 468 of California’s 480 cities, which is 97% of the cities in California.

The question of should city treasurers be selected or elected is often asked.  And what   is its relationship to debt management?

A 2010 study conducted by Alexander Whally, an economist at U.C. Merced provided empirical evidence as to which choice is right.

Mr. Whalley found that cities managed by appointed city treasurers paid between 13% and 23% less to borrow money over a ten-year period than those managed by elected officials.  On refinancing existing debt an activity that requires significant skill and expertise, the appointed city treasurers were much better at getting lower interest rates.  It may be that appointed treasurers often have higher levels of education than elected treasurers.  He calculates that total borrowing costs would drop by around $20 million a year if all California’s city treasurers were appointed.  By reducing debt burdens, given the restructuring possibilities now that interest rates are so low, is worth considering.  These findings are relevant to Hercules because we are dealing with debt management right now.

Our City Manager Steve Duran appointed a new Finance Director.  He was criticized for not moving fast enough.  He was told that we should have had a permanent Finance Director in place yesterday.  Mr. Duran hired a new Finance Director with the following in mind:

• There is a need to hire an appropriate finance director as soon as possible.
• There is a need to identify someone who is well qualified, experienced and can be trusted.
• There is a need to find a finance director who can successfully work well with the City Manager and other City Staff.
• There is a need to find a qualified finance director who is willing to come work for the City of Hercules given the unstable finances of the City and the status of that position.

I believe City Manager Steve Duran has hired a qualified finance director who can help our City with its challenges.

Our City has been in a crisis mode.  Besides the type of city government we have, it’s just as important who we have in those key positions and how they function in those positions.  We have had many changes and I think it’s for the better.  I believe that we can successfully overcome the challenges by working together as a team. We have to pull together especially given the talents and skills of individuals we have in this City.

I believe we should support our City Manager, our City Attorney and our City Council.  They did not create this mess.  They are working very hard to try to help solve the problems.  We need to all work together for the benefit of our City.

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