City manager job anyone?
HELP wanted ad:
"City Manager of Pico Rivera, California, population 67,000. Salary up to $145,000 per year. Last two city managers fired. City council split 3-2. Recall attempt under way. City politics unstable."
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
We're not trying to be funny. We're simply emphasizing a point that Pico Rivera has made self-evident during the past couple of years.
Who now would want to be the city manager of Pico Rivera? Certainly, the more qualified candidates will avoid this city like the plague as a place for advancing their careers.
What can we possibly say in an editorial that could be helpful; something other than taking a side and contributing to the destructive political polarization of Pico Rivera?
We can say to all of Pico Rivera, you need to right your ship of state and you really should have done it without firing City Manager Chuck Fuentes. Still, we were not in favor of the hiring of Fuentes, primarily due to his close alliance with Mayor Pro Tem Ron Beilke in the city council campaign of 2005.
But, once Fuentes was seated in a 3-2 vote, to fire him nine months later seemed like an unfair sampling of his abilities. Especially, if Beilke was correct when he said the city budget was $5 million better off during Fuentes' brief tenure.
The only thing that really changed in that nine months was the council majority. Councilman and former Mayor David Armenta left the majority of Pete Ramirez and Beilke, which had hired Fuentes. Armenta joined with councilmen Gregory Salcido and Carlos Garcia to form a new majority against retaining Fuentes in his position as city manager.
One thing the firing of Fuentes may have done is take the steam out of an effort to recall Ramirez, Beilke and Armenta, because they had opposed the hiring of Fuentes in the first place.
Fuentes was hired to replace veteran City Manager Dennis Courtemarche. Courtemarche's was fired after the March 2005 election when Beilke was elected and replaced longtime Councilwoman Beatrice Proo. At the center of the effort to oust Proo and to create a new council majority was outrage that Courtemarche had been given a $40,000 per year raise, bringing his annual salary to $200,000.
After watching all of this play out over the years, we have come to believe that Pico Rivera is one of those cities that somehow manages to get some things done despite its never-ending meaningless political machinations that most of its populace tunes out.
The only ones who can continue playing that game are those whose lives center around the endless bickering and little else and those hearty souls who believe they can make a difference.
And, you know what? The latter group does make a difference, for the better, but the game-players, the bickerers, the malcontents, some of the gadflies come very close at times to ruining it for everyone else.
All of you who have an investment of homes and businesses in Pico Rivera would serve yourselves well to take back your city from those whose interests are mainly self-serving.
HELP wanted ad:
"City Manager of Pico Rivera, California, population 67,000. Salary up to $145,000 per year. Last two city managers fired. City council split 3-2. Recall attempt under way. City politics unstable."
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
We're not trying to be funny. We're simply emphasizing a point that Pico Rivera has made self-evident during the past couple of years.
Who now would want to be the city manager of Pico Rivera? Certainly, the more qualified candidates will avoid this city like the plague as a place for advancing their careers.
What can we possibly say in an editorial that could be helpful; something other than taking a side and contributing to the destructive political polarization of Pico Rivera?
We can say to all of Pico Rivera, you need to right your ship of state and you really should have done it without firing City Manager Chuck Fuentes. Still, we were not in favor of the hiring of Fuentes, primarily due to his close alliance with Mayor Pro Tem Ron Beilke in the city council campaign of 2005.
But, once Fuentes was seated in a 3-2 vote, to fire him nine months later seemed like an unfair sampling of his abilities. Especially, if Beilke was correct when he said the city budget was $5 million better off during Fuentes' brief tenure.
The only thing that really changed in that nine months was the council majority. Councilman and former Mayor David Armenta left the majority of Pete Ramirez and Beilke, which had hired Fuentes. Armenta joined with councilmen Gregory Salcido and Carlos Garcia to form a new majority against retaining Fuentes in his position as city manager.
One thing the firing of Fuentes may have done is take the steam out of an effort to recall Ramirez, Beilke and Armenta, because they had opposed the hiring of Fuentes in the first place.
Fuentes was hired to replace veteran City Manager Dennis Courtemarche. Courtemarche's was fired after the March 2005 election when Beilke was elected and replaced longtime Councilwoman Beatrice Proo. At the center of the effort to oust Proo and to create a new council majority was outrage that Courtemarche had been given a $40,000 per year raise, bringing his annual salary to $200,000.
After watching all of this play out over the years, we have come to believe that Pico Rivera is one of those cities that somehow manages to get some things done despite its never-ending meaningless political machinations that most of its populace tunes out.
The only ones who can continue playing that game are those whose lives center around the endless bickering and little else and those hearty souls who believe they can make a difference.
And, you know what? The latter group does make a difference, for the better, but the game-players, the bickerers, the malcontents, some of the gadflies come very close at times to ruining it for everyone else.
All of you who have an investment of homes and businesses in Pico Rivera would serve yourselves well to take back your city from those whose interests are mainly self-serving.
posted by llacer @ 6:35 PM
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