City manager meeting a mixed bag

Sorry about the delay getting this post up; I had to review my tape recording of Saturday's meeting. I had to record it because my daughter kept making me take her outside to play hide-and-seek in our City Hall's majestic courtyard, on that beautiful spring-like winter California morning (hey, YOU try to get a weekend babysitter on a reporter's salary!).

Those attending Saturday's community meeting about the city manager selection process could be divided into two categories: those openly lobbying for the police chief and Interim City Manager Barney Melekian, and those advocating for a comprehensive, nationwide search taking into account a variety of factors including previous city management experience.

Some of the criteria thrown out by various speakers included proven experience in everything from urban and open space planning to environmental and business issues. Several spoke against selecting someone with a "top-down" management style.

None of those issues would seem to favor a person with a strictly law enforcement background, with its focus on public safety issues and its hierarchical, military-style structure.

Former city staffer Juliana Delgado, who said she had worked for four city managers including one from a law enforcement background, said the person selected should "not be someone who is untested" and suggested the council look at what city that person came from, what their accomplishments were there, and their longevity in the city manager position.

But several others argued that Melekian was already the right person for the job. Joe Brown, president of the NAACP Pasadena Branch, said the chief's proven track record of community service, ability to promote dialogue with the various racial, ethnic and demographic groups in the community and his experience in administering a major police department's budget all make him an ideal candidate.

The meeting was well attended, with the 40 or 50 people in City Hall's Council Chambers comprising the largest community input meeting attended by Bob Murray, the consultant hired by the city to conduct the city manager search.

Murray, who has 20 years as a recruiter and has helped place more than 200 city managers, said the search will be conducted based on the needs and expectations of city leaders and the community, and not by any internal criteria developed by his firm as a standard blueprint for city manager searches.

"Meetings like this will really drive that effort," said Murray, who also led the police chief search that put Melekian in office.

If meetings like Saturday's are a key component of the search, then a single one is not enough, said former Councilman Paul Little.

"If community input is so important, there needs to be more," said Little, speaking on behalf of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. He also questioned why the meeting was not televised. No explanation about that during the meeting.

Councilman Victor Gordo said he planned a meeting about the city manager search in his own district, in addition to any other community meetings the city may host in the future.

Mayor Bill Bogaard said residents can also submit comments, questions and suggestions about the search at the city's Web site at http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/. Click on the "City Manager Recruitment Survey" link. Bogaard said that as of Saturday nearly 20 comments had been submitted via the Web.

The meeting wasn't without some levity, provided by (who else?) Aaron Proctor. The former mayoral candidate and current Pasadena blogger extraordinaire gave a top 10 list of people the city should not select to replace retired City Manager Cynthia Kurtz. Among them: Cal Worthington, the sixth Doctor Who, and the perennially in trouble former Councilman Isaac Richards (or Haqq, or whatever he goes by nowadays). And Proctor was the only one to openly oppose Barney.... the Dinosaur, not Melekian.