By Doug Miller
Theofan's return is coalition council's first major move
Disraeli and Gladstone have nothing on Long Beach.
Charles Theofan was appointed Long Beach city manager at a special meeting of the City Council Tuesday night. Theofan, 55, will begin his second term in the post on Monday, two years and two weeks after his first term ended. He replaces Edwin Eaton, the three-time city manager who has run the city off and on since 1979. The vote was 3-2, with Democrats Leonard Remo and Denise Tangney voting no.
After the very brief meeting, Theofan accepted the congratulations of many of the city employees who attended, including a large delegation of police officers and firefighters. He also accepted the congratulations of all five council members. The last hand he shook was Tangney's. She smiled and said, "Charles, I'm going to keep you on your toes."
Theofan, a registered Republican, will resign his post as the Town of Hempstead's commissioner of planning and urban development, where his duties included leading the revitalization of downtown Baldwin and trying to broker a peace among several West Hempstead neighborhood groups and the owners of the controversial Courtesy Hotel. He has previously served Long Beach as corporation counsel and counsel to the Zoning Board of Appeals and the now defunct Commission on Planning and Development. He will finish out the week at the Town of Hempstead, and Long Beach Corporation Counsel Corey Klein will serve as acting city manager until Monday.
In hiring Theofan, the coalition Republican majority is seeking to avoid the mistake of the previous Democratic administration of hiring a city manager it could not work with harmoniously. In January 2006 the Democrats appointed former police commissioner John Laffey city manager, but he resigned - one Democrat on the council told a Herald reporter that Laffey had been fired - six months later, citing a lack of support.
Theofan, at least for now, enjoys the unanimous support of the coalition majority. "During the campaign we promised to roll back Long Beach residents' property taxes," said council President Tom Sofield in a statement. "In Charles's prior tenure as city manager he took a city that was saddled with a $6.5 million deficit and in just two years he turned it into a $5.2 million surplus. He understands that the taxpayers in Long Beach come first. Charles got the job done before and we trust fully that ... he will deliver on the promises we made."
When pressed for an explanation for his no vote, Remo released a statement of his own. "My major concern is the financial stability of our city," he said. "The city now has a reserve fund that should protect us in these uncertain economic times. I will work diligently to temper any drastic reductions in our economic security at the hands of this new administration."
Theofan said he has been keeping a close eye on City Hall since he left office and that he feels prepared to hit the ground running, but he confessed that he was not sure what matters would be addressed at his first City Council meeting Tuesday night. "I have no clue," he said with his trademark candor.
Prior to the 2003 election, when the GOP first captured City Hall, Theofan represented former Councilman Jim Hennessy in a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city. Hennessy claimed he lost his job as a lieutenant in the Long Beach lifeguard corps when he, Sofield and Mona Goodman ran their first, unsuccessful campaign for City Council in 2001.
The case was settled out of court in 2003, Theofan said, with Hennessy restored to his position. When the coalition was elected in 2003, Theofan was appointed the city's corporation counsel and counsel to the zoning board. He replaced the coalition's first city manager, Glen Spiritis, after nine months.
Theofan sparked a minor controversy during his first term when he requested a waiver from the charter requirement that the city manager live within the city, since he maintains residences in Manhattan and Freeport. The council refused to relent, and he rented an apartment in the city "at great personal expense," he said. He said Tuesday he planned to rent another apartment in Long Beach. "I am currently looking and believe I've found something," he said.
Indeed, when he took the oath of office, he identified himself as Charles Theofan, "residing at 65 Lincoln Boulevard," which is the address of an apartment building.
As city manager from late 2004 to 2005, he oversaw the implementation of the city's master plan and the final approval of the Superblock hotel project, and produced a city budget without a tax increase. He resigned on Dec. 31, 2005, hours before the Republican coalition lost its City Council majority.
"I believe that objectively I did a very good job," Theofan said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. "And I feel even more qualified now."
The Democrats on the council clearly disagreed. Remo's no vote initially came without comment, while Tangney said she feared hiring Theofan before he was domiciled in Long Beach might violate city law. In addition, Tangney said, it was Theofan's previous term as city manager that made her angry enough to run for office in the first place. "I watched with dismay the way the city was run," she said - specifically, she said, the "unprofessional" manner in which she said city employees were treated.
In response to the residency issue, Sofield read the passage of the charter that states that the city manager need not live within the city upon appointment, and only needs to have a residence in the city, not live there full-time.
Comments about this story? Dmiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
