We clearly witnessed last week why the city of Sacramento is a dysfunctional mess | Opinion
With a number of high-profile candidates deciding to take the plunge by running for mayor of Sacramento, further discussion of a strong mayor-form of government is starting again.
All this talk about needing a change in the structure of Sacramento city government so that the mayor can hire the city manager as part of expanded powers is silly. How about if the people of Sacramento just elect a genuine leader who can count to four?
The political reality is that any mayor who can count four other members of the nine-member city council to join them on any issue has the ability to lead. It is the math of majority rule.
Some were outraged at reports that City Manager Howard Chan is the highest-paid city administrator in the region. Not me. He should be paid a ton for all he has to deal with each day. The man has a horrible job. Mayor Darrell Steinberg has struggled to maintain a council majority to make tough decisions, particularly on the homeless. Recently he barely mustered the votes to direct Chan to take the lead because he and the council were incapable of making the tough decisions.
Chan has to wake up to the dysfunction every day and make the trains run on time. At any given City Council meeting, he has nine bosses. If he was not doing what the City Council wanted, six council members could vote him out. That direction usually doesn’t happen, so the man has to run the city using his instincts on what is the best course of action.
Chan seems to be a guy who is going to protect the finances and reputation of the city against the shifting political winds of its e elected leaders. Every taxpayer in Sacramento should be happy he is there. On many occasions, he is the adult in the room.
All this is to say that the city of Sacramento is a political mess, a place to be avoided. You know who benefits from that mess? West Sacramento, Elk Grove, Roseville, and Folsom.
If a major business is thinking about coming to the Sacramento region, that business will do its homework and choose competent cities like Roseville, Elk Grove, Folsom, or West Sacramento over Sacramento.
Former West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon is an example of a mayor who was strong based on his skills. He was solid on public policy and a true leader. He and the council and the administration got along. Together, they could deliver quick and effective administration in a fraction of the time and resources it would take to do the same thing under the leadership of Sacramento Mayors Heather Fargo, Kevin Johnson, and Steinberg. If you wanted to get things done in the Sacramento region for nearly 20 years, West Sacramento has been a place to do it.
The suburbs have benefitted from increased jobs, development, and tax revenue from the dumpster fire in Sacramento. Markets work and they prove this with every announcement of business expansion in the suburbs and smaller, better cities in Sacramento County. These cities excel by delivering the needed services and by city councils making the right decisions.
The city of Sacramento could have enormous potential if it elected a mayor who can lead.