”
The only problem is you did it in secret, why was this?
”
The above quote is from a letter to the editor in Thursday’s
Dispatch. The author, Daniel Garcia, encapsulates the current
problem perfectly.
“The only problem is you did it in secret, why was this?”
The above quote is from a letter to the editor in Thursday’s Dispatch. The author, Daniel Garcia, encapsulates the current problem perfectly.
I was correct in my assumption last weekend that there would be “no reportable action” arising from the closed-session performance evaluation last Monday night of City Administrator Jay Baksa and City Attorney Linda Callon. Whatever happened, “best practices” in human relations department in this country apply. The ironclad, and correct in my opinion, doctrine is that “you chew your employees out in private and give praise in public.”
That said, let’s look at the difference between the City of Gilroy and say, HP, GM, or Delta Airlines. As Commodore Vanderbilt once said about his railroad empire, “The public be damned. I work for the stockholders.” This is true. Vanderbilt was responsible to those who thought enough of his enterprise to put their hard-earned cash on the line as investors.
But, municipal government is different. It’s not the investors’ money, it’s everbody’s money. All of us who are citizens of Gilroy are stakeholders. Of course, one of the big problems with “everybody’s money” is that it’s often treated like nobody’s money, or at least nobody’s in particular, which it is.
I don’t think anyone would argue that Jay Baksa’s reign as city administrator has been an excellent one. This city has a credit rating in the top 1 percent of California cities; while other cities have been mired in debt, we are not. Jay has performed well in other activities like Leadership Gilroy. His one-day presentation to my class on city finances would be welcomed at the university level anywhere.
And it’s the same with Linda Callon, our city attorney. A partner at Berliner-Cohen, Linda always provides wise counsel, and has been very effective as our representative. Notably, the city has been well-represented in things like the citizens who sued to stop our Super Wal-Mart coming to town, sewer plant litigation and also many of the routine claims which every city receives as a matter of course.
However, there is a culture developing which I don’t like. It seems to me that of late, we’ve developed a “what do we have to disclose?” culture at the city, rather than a much more reasonable and transparent attitude, which might be “if we HAVE to keep this secret, why?”
There are reasonable expectations of privacy in some city decisions. If we private citizens consult our lawyers, we are covered by the attorney-client privilege, and the city is no different. Things like labor negotiations, lawsuit discussion and some real estate transactions are justifiably closed to the public, because public funds are at risk. To disclose the city’s position in these matters might, as any of us, expose the city to litigation, or put it at a disadvantage in negotiations.
Enter Mr. Garcia’s quote above. Let me point out that, due to one bad decision, a city administrator who has steered the city quite well for over two decades has had his judgment on everything called into question. Hardly fair, but entirely understandable.
As to the city attorney, well, it’s the nature of the beast. I’ve worked with attorneys for over 20 years, and during that time, I’ve learned some things about them. The wise consumer of legal services does not ask his or her attorney “hey, is this legal?” You say instead “This is what I want to do, and your job is to tell me how to do so legally.”
I’m fairly certain that this is how the non-disclosure of the contracts in our latest controversy arose, and I don’t like it.
Not only is the public’s money involved, let’s look at the nature of reporters: “Fool me once, shame on you …” You know the rest. As a politician (and don’t make the mistake of thinking Jay isn’t) If you disclose everything and don’t get caught lying, even by omission, you can screw up big-time and been seen as just another person who’s made a mistake.
On the other hand, if you lie or don’t disclose the public’s business, letters to the editor like the one quoted above begin to come in, and the newshound noses begin to twitch. Not good, guys.
So, my advice to council is this: Change the culture. While not in any way comparable to what is a minor screw-up in a small town, imagine what would have happened to Bill Clinton had he walked out 30 minutes after that ugly story broke and said “Yes, it’s true.”
Nothing.
