Council member speaks out about city manager's treatment

By JOE GOMEZ

Editor’s note: City Council members have a standing invitation to submit a guest commentary once per quarter. We have invited Mayor Lawrence Dale to respond.

People of Barstow deserve a response to the separation of the former City Manager Hector Rodriguez, not speculation. I don’t care if you live in an at-will state in which you can terminate anyone at any time, it is still immoral to fire people without helping them understand what they need to improve and providing the opportunity to do so. Hector did not get fired, although the Mayor told me he wanted him dismissed and tried to call an emergency closed session meeting to terminate his contract sometime during the month of September, which I strongly opposed. We have lost a good city manager, who cared about Barstow and the citizens in this community. He took the moral high ground because he is a man with integrity. To understand how our local government works and my personal opinions of Mayor Lawrence Dale's management style, I felt it necessary to express thoughts in writing. Barstow is a General Law city . It is the role of the mayor and council to serve as stewards of the city and to establish policy for the city. It is the city manager’s role, along with the support of city staff to implement the policies established by the mayor and council. In some ways it is part of a system of checks and balances. The mayor of Barstow isn’t bestowed with powers like the mayor of Los Angeles or New York . The people of Barstow haven’t given the mayor that kind of control. Consider the following: Since the Mayor took office in 2000, Barstow has had six city managers. Since 2003 Barstow has had four city managers. That’s like having a new city manager every year. That kind of turn over signals deep-rooted systemic problems at City Hall. And it doesn’t stop there — the turnover among the city’s senior managers and police officers have been equally alarming. Think about it: • If things are on the up and up, there’s no need for the mayor or members of this council to meddle behind the scenes in the business of city staff. • If things are on the up and up, there’s no need for the mayor to convene so many closed-door City Council meetings. • If things are on the up and up, there’s no need to schedule so many council meetings during the work day when people can’t attend the meetings or outside of our regularly scheduled Monday night Council meetings. When the independent council majority appointed Hector Rodriguez as city manager in 2006, Mayor Dale opposed us. The mayor was furious! Since Hector Rodriguez was appointed city manager more than 18 months ago, the mayor has worked behind the scenes to undo the previous council’s decision and undermined Hector’s success and decision-making. Earlier this year the Mayor tried to dismiss Hector but there was an outpouring of support from the community for Hector. So instead the Mayor has worked behind the scenes to get rid of Hector. Recognize that Hector wasn’t the mayor’s guy. And if you’re not the mayor’s guy, you’re not going to be in a job for very long. This past year, the mayor fought against Hector’s choice for police chief and tried to undermine that recommendation. Chief Burns has proven in a short period that Mr. Rodriguez made great choice by hiring her. When the mayor wanted his friends at Micromedia Filtration to take over the $15 million contract for the sewer treatment facility, he fought against Hector and the concerns of key city staff. Now we’re back to business as usual. Mayor Dale has a hungry, unhealthy appetite for control and leverage over the council and over those who manage things at City Hall and in our police department. Anyone who crosses the mayor or his friends, or who is independent in thought, seals their fate; including myself. Micromanagement of city staff has kept Barstow from moving forward since the Millennium. At best, Barstow has stood still the last seven years. For every step forward, there’s been a step or two back. At the root of the stagnation is a mayor’s leadership style that is holding Barstow back. There’s something suspicious about elected leadership that prefers to meet behind closed doors and has to rule with such an iron fist. He poses the management style of a dictator or director; I compare Mayor Dale’s management style to Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders. That can’t be in the best interests of the people of Barstow. And after the last seven years, the people of Barstow are smart enough to see that.

ABOUT THE WRITER Joe Gomez is a member of Barstow’s City Council. His term expires in 2008.