By: Chris Munzing
The decision, which came after a public hearing on the matter, was the first major move by the new Republican-led council to eliminate what it perceives to be the remnants of the Democratic machine in the city.
The position, created several years ago, carries many of the same powers as the city manager, and it was seen as political patronage by Republicans. The office was held most recently held by Steve Polcer, but has been vacant since Polcer resigned in late December.
Before the elimination of the office, the director of operations was the acting city manager when the city manager was unavailable. Those duties will now fall to new Corporation Counsel Charles Theofan. New city Comptroller Alice Schildkraut would take over in Theofan's absence.
The move was widely accepted as a necessary step in establishing a level of trust in the community and within the city government. Councilmen Lenny Remo and Denis Kelly, however, believe that the elimination of the controversial position is only the first step in a necessary revision of the entire city charter.
"We have a poorly drafted charter, and it's not applicable to this city today," said Kelly before voting for the measure. "We're headed for more difficulties because of this charter. It's our obligation to get this charter revised."
Remo agreed with his colleague, and said that the council has to change the way it revises the charter in the future. "Cherry-picking the charter item by item is dangerous," he said. "The charter is ancient, the city is not. The charter needs to be brought into the 21st century."
Councilwoman Mona Goodman took the opportunity to announce that her litigation against the city concerning the director of operations position would be dropped. Goodman said that there was no reason to force the city to retain costly outside counsel when the issue had been addressed by the council. Goodman said she was "very passionate" about the elimination of the position and was pleased to see it happen.
In terms of a long-term revision of the charter, both council President Jim Hennessy and Vice President Tom Sofield said that a charter revision committee would be seriously considered, but that the elimination of the director of operations position was something the council felt needed to be handled immediately.
Sofield said that a revision of the entire charter could take as long as a year, but this was a step in the right direction. "This position was created to usurp the powers of the city manager and place them with someone else," he said.
"This vote closes a chapter of ugly history in this city," said Hennessy.
The council also approved a seismic study of the area where a new water tower will be built, just west of the Long Beach Bridge on Reynolds Channel, east of the incinerator site. The new water tower will replace the current tank, which is old and of questionable structural integrity. The seismic study needs to be conducted due to new regulations.
"In recent times, national and local building codes have been revised," said Rob Raab, commissioner of public works. "You need to do an evaluation of the soil." While not many people would consider the barrier island a hotbed of seismic activity, Raab said that it is a possibility. "It's probably not as crucial as in California; it's just getting a level of safety," he said. "Better to be safe than sorry."
Raab said that the barrier island is composed largely of different layers of sand, clay and the organic remains of what was wetlands hundreds of years ago. The study will be done through soil analysis, to make sure that the new tower will be set on solid ground.
The tower will be 150 to 160 feet tall and hold a million gallons of water, though there is a possibility that its capacity could be increased to 1.25 million gallons, depending on the bids received, according to Raab. "The more capacity you get, the better it is for the system," he said.
The process for soliciting and selecting a construction bid usually takes three months, according to Raab, who hopes to see construction started by early spring. The project would last roughly a year, he said.
