John Sheehan has been selling hot dogs downtown for 22 years and says he has always been opposed to the "council/manager" form of government. He and former councilor Allen Frank are circulating a petition seeking a return to the "strong mayor" form of government that voters replaced with the council/manager form in 1998. – Photo by Barney Burke
Nine years after voters replaced the "strong mayor" form of city government with the "council/manager" form, a petition drive seeks to go back to the old system.
As of Tuesday, Allen Frank and John Sheehan had collected nearly 200 of the 455 required signatures at Dogs-A-Foot, Penny Saver, the Roadhouse and other locations.
Sheehan, 64, is a Chicago native with an MBA who moved here 35 years ago. He's been vending hot dogs on Water Street for 22 years.
Frank, 54, is a Wisconsin native who moved here 14 years ago. He provides workman's compensation services to small businesses, and served on the City Council from 1999 to 2001. He said he had planned to move to Montana but won't be able to move for four years because of business obligations.
Under the council/manager form of government, the council sets policy, passes legislation and adopts budgets, and the city manager is in charge of the city's day-to-day operations. It's a common form of city government in small and medium sized cities.
Under strong mayor systems, the mayor may or may not vote on council agenda items unless there's a tie, but is in charge of administering the city. The strong mayor system is found in large cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago, where each department manager controls a staff and budget larger than the whole Port Townsend budget.
When ballot Proposition 1 was adopted in 1998, the late Michael Hildt held the position of city administrator under Mayor Julie McCulloch. Hildt was paid about $60,000 a year, current city Finance Director Michael Legarsky estimated. That amount would be $74,436 in today's dollars, using a CPI adjustment.
Timmons earns a base salary of $108,635.
Reason for petition
"I opposed the idea from the very outset," said Sheehan of having a professional city manager. "I'm uncomfortable with government by non-elected officials. I want a head of government."
Asked about the implications of an incompetent person being elected as a strong mayor, Sheehan replied, "Isn't that what democracy's about?"
"If voters are more comfortable with having a city manager, that's the way it'll be," said Sheehan.
Frank said he suggested putting the issue on the ballot in 2001 but couldn't convince the rest of the council to do so. "I agreed to help John because I believe that after eight-plus years of council/manager form of government, citizens deserve the opportunity to decide whether or not they feel it is working."
Frank has mixed feelings about the 1998 passage of Proposition 1. "David Timmons did an excellent job of following clear council directions and created a more cost-effective organization his first year or so," Frank said. "Unfortunately, David then became the bureaucracy and had activist councilors without the qualifications or stomach to hold him accountable."
Frank said that a strong mayor would have done more to inform the public of the costs of renovating City Hall. "Timmons knew that once the project was started, there was no stopping it."
"I have nothing personal against David Timmons," said Frank. "My 'agenda' is affordable and accountable city government."
Past mayors speak
Former mayors aren't exactly lining up behind the proposed ballot measure.
"I think it's turned out OK," said Julie McCulloch of having a professional manager. She was the last strong mayor and still supports that system. However, she said it would be "foolish" and disruptive to flip-flop the form of government.
"Trying to run a city without a trained professional is a recipe for disaster," said McCulloch. But in a vibrant community like Port Townsend, she said, it is possible to find strong mayor candidates with the necessary skills.
"I think it's great. We needed professional management," said Forrest Rambo, who was on the council when Prop. 1 passed and was then elected to serve as mayor on the first "new" council. The only councilors voters retained were Rambo and Joe Finnie, said Rambo, neither of whom opposed Prop. 1.
"I wish 'em luck with an amateur administrator," said Geoff Masci. He was part of MOCCAA (Make Our City and County Affordable and Accountable, the group that put Prop. 1 on the ballot) and has served on council since 1999.
"We got a lot more done," said Masci, noting that having a like-minded council following the passage of Prop. 1 also made for smoother sailing.
"I think my experience in working with the council/manager form of government has been quite positive," said former mayor Kees Kolff, adding that he can see "good arguments on both sides of the fence."
Former mayor Catharine Robinson said the change to council/manager has been good overall. Voters certainly have the right to place the issue on the ballot, she said, but "I don't feel the need for it."
"I think this is a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent the political process and eliminate the city manager," said Welch. If anyone is serious about accountability, there are five council seats open, he said.
Welch, who had served on council prior to the change of government in 1998, said he initially thought the change was premature. Looking back, "It's been a good thing," he said, because it's proven to be more efficient and more in the public interest.
Welch is not opposed to putting the matter on the ballot if the petition is validated, but he said he doesn't think going to the voters is worth the effort.
Syd Lipton was elected to council in 1999 but never served as mayor. He said Port Townsend is a $27 million organization that requires a full-time administrator with the background needed to run a large-scale operation.
"There have been very few people on this council who have this kind of background - and the time available," said Lipton. Even then, he cautioned, the council needs to watch for the natural tendency of bureaucrats to want to expand an organization.
Timmons declined to comment on whether the effort is a vendetta by Frank against him personally. He pointed to "clean" state audits in all eight of his years here, in addition to the city's high bond ratings, awards for capital improvements and operations, and successful grant applications.
Measurement
Under both forms of government, only the council - not the manager - has the power to adopt the budget, which sets the number of employees and the amount of taxes to be collected from property owners and other sources.
It was the council that boosted taxes on water, sewer and garbage to fund two more police officers and other expenses in December 2006. And after voters turned down a proposed increase in telephone and electricity taxes in February 2007, the council voted in May to cut library hours. Nonetheless, Frank points to those decisions and a failed attempt to increase city property tax revenues by 53 percent in 2004 as evidence that the city manager form of government should be ended.
City data shows that since the change in government, there have generally been fewer city employees. However, the pre-Prop. 1 councils could have made further staff cuts, just as current and future councils can raise or lower staffing levels.
Likewise, it can be difficult to draw a bright line between the form of government and decisions on property taxes. Following the change in government, the council refused to increase property tax revenues for three consecutive years, something previous councils also could have done with commensurate spending cuts.
But only voters can decide whether any cost savings or other benefits are the product of skilled elected officials or the hiring of a city manager - or both.
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, June 08, 2007
Article comment by:
Doug Mason
I appreciate input from city residents. I wonder if input from non-residents is very useful, as they do not have to accept any consequences.
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