The (city manager) search is on

By LEN RIEDEL
Published: July 13, 2008

Don’t put me on the list of people who will miss the retired city manager — all that sparkles was not gold. What I am most concerned about today is the behavior of City Council in the wake of his departure.

It was my experience that in matters of zoning that the City Council allowed a substantial deviation from its written procedures to give the city manager and his staff an undue amount of influence in matters that should have been between council and its constituents. When challenged with eight pages of specific and actionable violations of the city zoning ordinance, neither the city manager nor the City Council did anything to rectify the situation. The precedence of that irregularity continues to manifest itself in matters of special use permit applications.

We have cheered the earnest efforts of the city manager for his wisdom in bringing a retail hub strategy to the city, and yet along traditional retail corridors of the city, empty storefronts rival those that are occupied. The city continues to approve the construction of new strip malls without tenants. Have any members of council or the city management ever studied basic laws of supply and demand? Why can’t they tell a developer no thanks?

City leadership has little actionable strategy for its own planning documents, such as the 2020 Community Plan — one which notes the inevitable graying of the population and the decreasing demand for our architectural resources. Victorian homes in the city’s historic district are vacant and neighborhoods are deteriorating — yet under the city manager’s guidance, credible applications from compatible organizations were denied to protect the rights of a few influential homeowners who are not able or willing to maintain the very homes that are the city’s heritage resource.

The city manager accepted a salary that placed him in the upper levels of compensation in the region. For that much was expected and in large measure was delivered. Still for a person with so much responsibility to dump his job without even the courtesy of advising his employer (City Council) of his plans was unprofessional and demonstrated either an arrogance or contempt for those whom he was supposed to be accountable. For the mayor to find out by e-mail or a reporter’s call that the top job in the city would be vacant in a month is unacceptable and does not reflect well on the city manager’s loyalty to the city. A member of council suggested it was a pevish response to council rebuffing his budget.

Having said that, for Adam Tomer, T. Wayne Oakes, John Hamlin, David Luther and Ruby Archie to vote him a severance bonus of an extra month of paid leave is incongruous with his undignified departure. Would they each take $2,500 from their own pockets and give it to the city manager? If not, why did they feel free to take it from ours? In tough times, they gave away an unbudgeted “golden parachute” of more than $10,000 to a person for no good reason.

The city manager was not indispensible. He had a staff and a deputy. That he did not take his leave was his decision. It is a reality that many managers experience — use your leave or lose it. He elected not to use it. The 60 days accrual that his contract permitted was more than generous and provided him a virtual 12-week (at five days a week) extension of his contract. This is an obligation that taxes the city budget with no return on the investment.

Now the City Council is prepared to follow a tried and true method to spend another $100,000-plus from our tax dollars by seeking a executive search company to find us suitable candidates for the city manager’s replacement. Let me suggest that the City Council take note that the city manager has a deputy (Lyle Lacy) who is now the acting city manager. That person has been the city manager of at least four other cities or towns. He has studied at the hip of the much venerated Mr. Gwaltney, and one would presume he could and would continue those policies. Make him the city manager and seek a new deputy from within. If Mr. Lacy proves he cannot do the job or is unwilling to take it, then let him be fired or retired. Only then should the City Council take the expensive step of recruiting from outside the area.

Of course, none of this will happen because I am not sure who works for who in this city. Perhaps the City Council doesn’t know either — interesting point.

• Riedel lives in Danville.