Updated 3:04 p.m. March 4. and 1:55 a.m. March 5.
After almost a decade of running Imperial Beach day-to-day operations, City Manager Gary Brown announced Monday in a brief press release that he will retire June 1.
Brown has been the IB City Manager since December 2003.
"I'm just getting old," he said. "9 and a half years–or whatever it is–that's a good long stint. So it was time."
As the city's Chief Administrative Officer, ordinances passed by City Council are enforced by the City Manager. Brown also worked with Mayor Jim Janney to create City Council meeting agendas.
"The City Manager basically does everything. We just set policies," Janney said.
Brown earns $166,000 a year, and up to an additional $27,000 in benefits, one of the highest paid positions in local government, according to the 2011-13 budget.
"I would hope it [future City Manager's salary] would be in the same range," Janney said. "I would be hard pressed to offer someone more right now."
The Imperial Beach City Council will begin the process to select a new City Manager by hiring a recruitment firm at the March 20 meeting. A list of top candidates will then be presented to City Council in about 60 to 90 days, Janney said.
A City Manager may be selected from current city staff or residents, but the city should also "look outside cause that's what the city deserves."
Given the short period of time before June 1, City Council will likely have to appoint an Interim City Manager while the selection process takes place, Janney said.
He hopes the city can "strong arm" Brown to stick around past June 1 until a new City Manager is appointed since an Interim City Manager "can't do much but keep the ship afloat."
Albert Knecht grew up in Imperial Beach.
Knecht has fought development at the 9th and Palm shopping center, was a representative of the Community Commission for Local Government and was a write-in candidate for the Imperial Beach City Council in 2010.
He wants to see the City Manager become an elected position.
"I don't think the City Manager should be able to control agenda items," he said. Instead Knecht thinks the City Council should vote on agenda items.
"I know in the past in trying to get agenda items before council we were being blockaded by the City Manager and maybe even the mayor and that is always an issue or point of contention for me," he said.
City Managers are appointed, not elected, so there will be no public involvement in the selection process, Janney said, except that elected public officials will choose the new Chief Administrative Officer.
Since hiring is a personnel matter, interviews and actions related to hiring a new City Manager will be held during closed session.
"I don't think we'd have anybody apply if we sat them up there in the diose and had the public go at them," Janney said.
He wants the new City Manager to communicate with the public in a similar fashion as Brown was able to do.
"I think he was very accessible to the public. Whether you like what he says I can't tell you that, but he's definitely accessible. I think in small cities you've got to have that," Janney said.
Like Brown, a new City Manager will have to work with the City Council, city staff and community to accomplish goals. Whether a City Manager lasts depends on their ability to "get the job done" and whether "personality mixes with the council and community."
A new City Manager will also need to work with a myriad of agencies that operate within the City of Imperial Beach, including the Port of San Diego, California Coastal Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Navy and more.
Jack Van Zandt was the president of the Imperial Beach Business Improvement District in 2008 and 2009.
"I would just have to say that Gary Brown, his job as City Manager, was an impossible job to do," he said.
His job is so difficult because he has to work between a City Council with no professional planning experience and a public "who have no idea what's going on."
A diverse group of people have their own issues in the community, and between staff, citizens and council," the City Manager ends up being the guy with all the balls in the air."
"I always found Gary to be a really engaged and interested party and one of the finest humans I know," he said.
Van Zandt would like a new City Manager be able to balance "the emerging tourism and hospitality market and the people that live there."
The biggest issue for the city to figure out before Brown retires is a new two-year budget which must be approved by the end of June, Janney said.
Other issues include negotiations to turn the Sports Park over to the YMCA, which Brown has led.
Overall Janney believes the city has done well under Brown's leadership, particularly when it comes to redevelopment.
"He made redevelopment work. Before he was here, the only thing the redevelopment agency had done was a small project and went out and got money," he said.
A new Seacoast Drive hotel was an important years long process, as was the Breakwater Project to build a new shopping center on Palm Avenue, but small changes Brown was charged to oversee may have also improved quality of life for local residents.
"It might be considered small to other people, but crosswalks at IB Boulevard might be considered a big deal to people whose kids cross there every week on their way home from school," Janney said.
Stay tuned to IB Patch for more details as they emerge.
What did you think of Brown's time as a leader of local government? What traits do you want a new City Manager to possess? Share in comments.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that City Manager Gary Brown makes $104,000 a year with $34,000 in benefits however Brown makes $166,000 with $27,314 in benefits. IB Patch apologizes for the error.
you conspired together to pillage the citizenry...
I will assume he can manage, has experience in another city, and left that city on good terms. In addition to this, we need someone who will make IB better by adoption of reforms. Here is my wish list for IB: Creation of a Code of Ethics and biennial review Creation of a Sunshine Ordinance that increases transparency in our local government. Create new opportunities for citizen input in all areas of local government. Require the Mayor and Councilmembers to make important disclosures before the Council takes action. Publicly disclose the offers made to City unions for pay or benefit increases. Plug loopholes that reduce the influence of paid interests. Implement more inclusive, community-based budget process that ensures proper public input when defining the city’s spending priorities. Require the calendars of the Mayor and Councilmembers to be posted online. Make the city website more useful, include names of department heads and contact information.
That is what a city manager should do, however after working closely with this city it became abundantly clear that, regarding many issues in Imperial Beach, the tail wags the dog. Read the staff reports, they are very often rife with inconsistencies and misinformation in order to backup the "Staff Recommendations" which is relied on mostly by our part-time council. One only needs to sit through 10 or so council meetings to watch a tail wagging a dog - AND - it's a sight to see for sure!
The opposite of how IB posts important meetings. The opposite of how IB offers LIVE and RECORDED video of meetings The opposite of how IB handled redevelopment funds - 9th & Palm - little league - sand replenishment - Palm Ave face-lift - ect, ect, ect...
What's wrong with public involvement? Mayor Reed in San Jose, held a series of community meetings to hear what qualities and skills the public wanted for their City Manager . He set up an email account for people who could not attend the meetings to send comments. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-156888612.html If a big city like San Jose can do so, certainly we can include the public? We have everything to gain, and nothing to lose. <<I don't think we'd have anybody apply if we sat them up there in the dais and had the public go at them>> I'm not suggesting that the public "go at" anyone. I'm suggesting we do something different, with Sunshine, to include the public. Other cities, strong on citizen participation, include members of the public on review panels prior to selecting department heads such as City Manager. Input from all sectors should be encouraged, not feared. We now have an opportunity to encourage Sunshine, include the public, and make a change for the better. I hope the mayor and city council will decide that after they take input from their recruitment firm, the County, the Port Authority, SANDAG, and others who weigh in, that they will also seek advice from the citizens of IB. Mayor Janney could be a real leader here, if he chose to do things differently. This could be the beginning of something good for IB..
Thank you for your years of service and oversight. Mark
To me Greg Wade Is a non-starter. Wade lacks many of the skills that Mayor Janney describes above as necessary for the position. I believe Wade's promotion to Assistant City Manager was not based on need, but more for the purpose of maintaining his six figure salary; which would have been cut in half when the RDA was eliminated. (Prior to Wade's promotion the position was left unfilled following Tom Ritter's departure in summer of 2009.) Despite not seeing eye to eye on some issues, and him hearing from me when we didn't, when Gary and I crossed paths, he was always polite, and always greeted me with a smile, and a handshake. I do thank him for his 10 years of service and I wish him luck in the future.
Marcus - agree with you about staff reports. I've seen my share of reports that I would best describe as "suspect". Councilmembers that think city staff are EXPERTS on EVERY issue that's presented to them are dangerous.
Completely forgot about his review until reading your comment. I was thinking he was told he had to go another year without a raise. Chances are he can "retire" and then go somewhere, even back to IB, as a consultant making $75/hr. (See item 6.2 below) http://www.cityofib.com/vertical/sites/%7B6283CA4C-E2BD-4DFA-A7F7-8D4ECD543E0F%7D/uploads/3-6-13_Agenda_Packetv2.pdf
Many of us feel is that our city has lost sight of our community. Under Brown-Janney we have lost our citizen committees (compare IB to any other nearby city-our lack of citizen committees is shocking) and the capacity to have an honest dialogue and discussion with our elected officials and city officials on who our city government should serve and how our tax dollars should be spent. And more critically we have lost any semblance of oversight, accountability and transparency. We need a Mayor and City Manager who believe in Open Government and who respect and believe in our diverse, friendly, involved and awesome community and its capacity to work collaboratively to improve our quality of life. As a kid growing up in IB, my parents, teachers, coaches and mentors always pushed me to do better and be better. It is a shame that out City government has never learned from the people of IB- who are always striving to improve our community, despite the roadblocks and obstacles the City places in front of us.
IB will be hard pressed to find a City Manager that can "please all of the people all of the time." GOOD LUCK GARY!!
gary brown was picked by our corrupt city council because he shared their disdain for small business and basic civil rights... together they've ran ib into the ground ...
2) Single lanes on Palm Ave increasing traffic and reducing safety 3) Sand placement ruins homes and surf 4) Sandcastles ended as they say ,"you make the call" on the council and the manager
1. Bathrooms for park on 2nd street. 2. Garbage cans on beach with service to be kept clean. 3. Clean up of the countless alleys and repaving That's just starters.
the big fu to the community is that the 'bike lane' is going to be a narrow strip running right next to the cars ....looks like it's being built specifically to be too dangerous for children to used...
Constututional Governement has been out the door under Brown.