By Doug Miller
Appointments, promotions spark ire
Legend has it that on Jan. 19, 2001, Democratic White House employees, in their final day on the job, pried the W out of the keyboards of every West Wing computer.
Long Beach's City Council Democrats have accused the council's GOP majority of using the final meeting of its administration for its own round of petty grudge-settling by not reappointing two Zoning Board of Appeals commissioners, Leoncio Torres, the board's only Hispanic member, and Stuart Banschick, and by "promoting" more than two dozen city employees right before the Republicans lost power.
Over the howls of several people in the audience Tuesday night who claimed that the council's actions were harmful to the city's stated goal of diversity, the council, in a partisan 3-2 vote, appointed Tracy H. Eichler and Susan Mackston-Solomon to replace Banschick and Torres. Each received a three-year term.
The excitement began Monday morning, when Democrats Leonard Remo and Denis Kelly were joined by Councilwoman-elect Denise Tangney in a press conference in the lobby of City Hall to protest the appointments, which were announced in a preliminary meeting agenda. "I'm amazed that in a city of 35,000 people, the Republicans can't find an individual who doesn't already sit on two boards to sit on the zoning board," said Remo. Mackston-Solomon is a member of the city's Civil Service and Recreation commissions.
Banschick said Monday afternoon that he believed he was not reappointed because he is both a Democrat and philosophically at odds with outgoing council President James Hennessy. "He came to one of our meetings in October and asked everyone our opinions on a particular project," Banschick said. "He obviously did not like my answer. I thought it was pretty inappropriate that a council president would come and lobby like that."
In particular, Banschick said, he supported the rights of area businesses to expand without being accused of overdevelopment. The case that he said earned him Hennessy's enmity was an application by a Long Beach florist, whose storefront is directly across from City Hall, to add a second floor so the business can offer tuxedo rentals. "It was just the type of business Long Beach is lacking," Banschick said.
Hennessy said he was grateful to Banschick and Torres for their service, and had no beef with either other than attendance issues. He claimed that City Manager Charles Theofan told him that both had missed a third of the board's monthly hearings this year. Other than that, Hennessy said, "I wouldn't know this guy if I fell over him."
There was further friction over the promotion of two police officers to detective, bringing the department's total to 10. "What I don't understand is why, if crime is so low in Long Beach, we need something like this," Remo said.
Theofan responded that the money for the positions was already in the budget, and that the two officers, who have been working undercover and are de facto detectives already, are a good reason for the drop in crime. "We were expected to believe that our drug problem was unstoppable, and to just be complacent about it," Theofan said. "But our police department wasn't having it. With more than 40 felony arrests last summer, we are well on our way to eradicating our drug problem in this city."
A rather lengthy debate erupted about a resolution that sought to re-grade some two dozen civil service employees. Theofan said a re-grading committee was empanelled to assure that employees' titles were in line with the work they were doing, but Democrats Remo and Kelly suggested that this may have been an attempt by the GOP to offer mass promotions in their last day in charge that could circumvent civil service promotion practices. The resolution passed after a lengthy, drawn-out debate.
Hennessy defended his administration's decision to take action on these matters at the last meeting of the term, saying that Democrats had appointed a police commissioner, John Laffey, in a late-December meeting in 2001 and, two years ago, outgoing Democrats had saddled his council with $2.7 million in budget notes, which were paid off, they hastened to add, without a tax increase.
And in December 2002, Hennessy said, the council amended its personnel roster to add 31 positions.
"Our amendment is for $17,000," he said. "They say it's never been done before, but I have agenda after agenda that says they budgeted money, amended the budget, amended personnel rosters and retained outside counsel in final meetings. This is all politics by the Democrats. The residents of Long Beach should put their seat belts on, because here we go again."
Another sticking point was the resolution moving $1 million of the city's projected $2.8 million surplus into the general fund to cover overages accrued by increases in fuel prices. The use of the money to offset unforeseen costs provoked Kelly to speak up. "So this means we are a million dollars short?" he asked.
When Theofan sheepishly replied yes, Republican Tom Sofield jumped in with a dig. "Are you saying we should we have bonded?"
"No, you should have planned properly," said Kelly.
"Two years ago you moved the [$2.7 million] bond," said Sofield.
"And you didn't learn from my mistakes," said Kelly. "I endorsed you and you still did this."
When it was all over, however, the members paid tribute to one another. Sofield graciously called Kelly someone who fulfilled his role on the minority with "dignity," and said he regretted that their time on the council had temporarily spoiled their friendship.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
