Size Isn't Everything
Posted by: Jubal | 02/25/2008 9:14 AM
Now that I have your attention, I thought I'd comment on the Santa Ana City Council's decision last week to award City Manager Dave Ream a 15% pay increase.
The OC Register article on the topic illustrates the skewed thinking that went into the decision.
The average, benighted citizen might think a pay raise for the city manager would be based on whether or not city government is well run, city services provided in a timely, effective and efficient manner?
But what do us taxpayers know?
Apparently, what matters is size: Santa Ana is bigger than the other OC cities, therefore its city manager needs to make more than their city managers.
And now it does -- except for the city manager of OC's other big town, Anaheim (where the city manager deserves every penny).
What kind of employee review does the council have with Ream:
But this being government, failure is tolerated and longevity, rather than success, is rewarded.
And for Santa Ana, that is a shame. It was a great city, and could once again be great city with strong, intelligent leadership and an intense focus on making city government focus on doing its job -- reducing crime, fixing the infrastructure and protecting property rights. Intelligent zoning akin to Anaheim's Platinum Triangle should be the extent of the city's attempts to plan the local economy. The free market can take care of rest.
The longer I watch Santa Ana city government and politics, for more apparent it is that Gustavo's category name for his SanTana posts -- Notes From The Banana Republic -- is perfectly apt.
It's too bad. As I've said before, I'm old enough to remember when Orange Countians went to Santa Ana to shop, eat and so on. It really was a civic center in more than the strictly government offices sense of the word. And I don't think there's any intrinsic reason it can't once again become a place one goes, rather than a place one avoids.
Awarding a 15% pay increase to the guy whose been city manager during most of Santa Ana's decline -- simply because the dysfunctional bureaucracy he runs is a big dysfunctional bureaucracy - is not a sign the current City Council grasps that their city government needs an enema.
The OC Register article on the topic illustrates the skewed thinking that went into the decision.
The average, benighted citizen might think a pay raise for the city manager would be based on whether or not city government is well run, city services provided in a timely, effective and efficient manner?
But what do us taxpayers know?
Apparently, what matters is size: Santa Ana is bigger than the other OC cities, therefore its city manager needs to make more than their city managers.
And now it does -- except for the city manager of OC's other big town, Anaheim (where the city manager deserves every penny).
What kind of employee review does the council have with Ream:
"You know, Dave, the city's infrastructure is falling apart and we aren't getting anywhere on the crime and graffiti fronts. But darn it -- you're making less than Yorba Linda's city manager and that we cannot tolerate!"Name me an instance in the private sector where you could have a CEO or COO in charge of a company for more than 20 years, during which the company's costs increased while productivity, services and market share declined? You can't, because that person wouldn't last that long.
But this being government, failure is tolerated and longevity, rather than success, is rewarded.
And for Santa Ana, that is a shame. It was a great city, and could once again be great city with strong, intelligent leadership and an intense focus on making city government focus on doing its job -- reducing crime, fixing the infrastructure and protecting property rights. Intelligent zoning akin to Anaheim's Platinum Triangle should be the extent of the city's attempts to plan the local economy. The free market can take care of rest.
The longer I watch Santa Ana city government and politics, for more apparent it is that Gustavo's category name for his SanTana posts -- Notes From The Banana Republic -- is perfectly apt.
It's too bad. As I've said before, I'm old enough to remember when Orange Countians went to Santa Ana to shop, eat and so on. It really was a civic center in more than the strictly government offices sense of the word. And I don't think there's any intrinsic reason it can't once again become a place one goes, rather than a place one avoids.
Awarding a 15% pay increase to the guy whose been city manager during most of Santa Ana's decline -- simply because the dysfunctional bureaucracy he runs is a big dysfunctional bureaucracy - is not a sign the current City Council grasps that their city government needs an enema.
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At The Trough, Politics Behind the Orange Curtain
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
They make a big deal about Ream's long-term service (and his meteoric rise in the SA bureaucracy). What would be really interesting would be to chart his career trajectory alongside the apparent decline of SA quality of life indicators. A correlation?
The issue of parity over performance is really troubling. I just read some posters over at the OJ blog who report that the police union in SA has an agreement to be the highest paid in the County. If that's true then it's a rather damning indictment of the Ream regime - but I guess he figures if it's good enough for the cops, then it's okay for him.
Unfortunately, this kind of automatic, no-accountability ratcheting up of salary and benefits for public employees will end up bankrupting local and state government.
Well said Matt. You see what we are up against in Santa Ana. No wonder folks call our elected representatives the city "clowncil."
I believe Santa Ana has the highest crime rates in O.C. and yes..... the lowest real estate home value.
Any extra money must be spend on other important projects to serve PEOPLE!!
People will want to blame Mexicans for SanTana's demise, but something else is amiss. One thing you didn't note was the horrific dropout rates recently noted by the Register in SanTana high schools, specifically Century and Valley. What's most bizarre about this is how different things are in Anaheim, my hometown. My alma mater of Anaheim high had nine students drop out out of a total population of almost 3,000 per the Reg's article--nine too many, but nowhere near SanTana's figures. Anaheim is about 95 percent Latino, all immigrants or children of immigrants, just like most SanTana schools--so what the hell is the problem there?
It's obvious there has been extreme mismanagement at the top as far as city leaders, but the amount of illegal residents in the city has also had its obvious effects. Put it all together and you have a perfect storm of how not to govern a city.
Gustavo, you make an excellent point. It had occurred to me ow Santa is surrounded by large to medium size cities that manage to run themselves reasonably well, with Anaheim providing the most damning contrast. It's roughly Santa Ana's equal in population, and has a large Latino population -- about 50% of the Anaheim populace compared to 75% in Santa Ana. Yet Anaheim has none of Santa Ana's dysfunction.
Granted, Anaheim has benefited mightily from Santa Ana's spurning if Walt Disney's proposal to build Disneyland there, but even so that doesn't account for the huge disparities in things like school drop out rates or deteriorating public services.
Disney has more of an effect on City Hall--the only thing they ever do for Anaheim High is free skating classes at Disney Ice and donated chairs for the AUHSD chambers. And Allan: Anaheim also has many illegals (my dad was once one of them!), yet we're nowhere near as screwy as SanTana. Definitely something in the water, and I have to side with Jubal on free-market approaches on the municipal level. On the school level, however, is something else which I can't quite decipher...
Gustavo, I guess the true education starts from our own home......
Gustavo, I guess the true education starts from our own home......
Gustavo:
True, but I was referring to Disneyland's economic impact on Anaheim, which could have been Santa Ana's.
Let me know when you break the DeSAUSD Code.
One factor of difference is the generational stage of the immigrant-residents of Santa Ana versus Anaheim. Santa Ana tends to have a higher proportion of 1st generation immigrants, while Anaheim has more 2nd and 3rd generations. Education completion rates and earned income tend to get better in following generations after immigration. When migrating to this area, many folks go to Santa Ana first as it has more consulates, free clinics, lax boarding arrangements, etc..- after some money is made and they feel comfortable in the surroundings, many then move north to Anaheim and such.