Balance of power Balance of power (November 02, 2005)

Council election focuses on influence of city manager, city council

by Bill D'Agostino

Former Palo Alto City Council member Emily Renzel has a file in her home office labeled: "Zaner over the bounds."

It's a collection of paperwork chronicling times she felt former City Manager Bill Zaner created, rather than enacted, policy. Although long an opponent of Zaner's strong management style, Renzel said she is nostalgic for those days because current City Manager Frank Benest is even more aggressive in creating policies.

New proposals from city staff are popping up "out of the blue," Renzel said. "I think it is partly the fault of the council that they don't say, 'Wait a minute, we want to be involved in this.'"

Under Palo Alto's Charter, the city manager has broad powers to execute policy, draft reports and make recommendations. The nine-member council sets, but is barred from administering, policy.

This year, the question of where exactly that line is -- and whether city administrators or council members sometimes step over it -- is one of the defining issues in the Nov. 8 City Council race.

The line is blurry, and definitions of what constitutes proper divisions between the City Council and the city manager can depend upon the individuals questioned.

Benest contended the areas of policy and administration are not necessary distinct. "In reality, there is overlap," he said,

Local government, Benest added, "is a messy arena, but it works. We have professional staff and a forthright city manager who are going to make recommendations based on our professional judgment. We're not going to be scared."

Demonstrating that belief, Benest has called himself a "policy partner" with the council. Councilwoman Hillary Freeman, who decided not to seek re-election in November, finds that notion troubling.

"In my perspective, I believe that the line should not be blurred and that the policy should definitely come from the council and that the implementation from the city manager," she said.

In response, Freeman has frequently asked the city manager to present a "matrix" of policy options at council meetings, rather than simply presenting his recommendations. Often, that request has been unheard.

Benest is using "subtle measures to influence policy direction," Freeman alleged. She cited an example from earlier this year when the city manager rejected a gift from the Friends of the Palo Alto Library, and then supposedly tried to influence the council to also reject the gift.

"That's just one example of the power broker subtleties that go on," she said.

Most of the 10 council candidates also believe the dividing line has become too muddied. Yet, they differ from Freeman by placing the blame on the council, rather than the staff.

"Staff is wielding too much power," Candidate Karen Holman said, adding the problem stems from the City Council failing to lead on issues. As a result, staff has stepped up and filled that gap, she said. Candidates Yoriko Kishimoto, Peter Drekmeier, Larry Klein and Norman Carroll echoed such sentiments.

"The City of Palo Alto definitely needs a strong manager and we need a strong council as well," said Kishimoto, one of the race's two incumbents. "The most important way that we can have a strong city council is if we have nine city council members who are wiling to be independent council members and take a stance even if it's against staff recommendations."

One example of such opposition occurred during a debate over the future of Palo Alto's recycling. Earlier this year, city staff proposed building a recycling and composting center to replace the current landfill when it closes in 2011. A previously approved plan called for that land to become a park.

After more than six years of planning, the council voted 5-4 to kill the project, known as the "Environmental Services Center," preferring to stay true to the original plan. Kishimoto said the staff should have come to the council earlier for a policy decision.

"They really did spend a lot of time and money pursuing it before they vetted it with the council," she said.

Opponents of the project claimed at the time that administrators in the Public Works Department manipulated facts to favor the city recommendation. The council, responding to that criticism, asked City Auditor Sharon Erickson to review the data. She ended up disputing the cost of the project, saying it would cost $8.5 million, not $6.9 million as Public Works Director Glenn Roberts presented.

"All that time was wasted so all those city funds were wasted," Holman said.

ot every council member, however, agrees with such assertions.

Councilwoman Jack Morton, the other incumbent in the race, questioned whether the Environmental Services Center was truly an example of staff exerting too much power. "To me, as a former professor of logic, there isn't any logic in that inference," Morton said.

As Morton frames the issue, it was simply a policy decision with two sides to the debate. Some environmentalists didn't want a center near the environmentally sensitive Baylands while others wanted the city to continue composting and recycling in Palo Alto.

"It is the role of the city manager to provide the information to the council that is necessary to have an informed decision," Morton said.

"I don't get it. It's a political poster child but it worked the way it's supposed to work," agreed Councilwoman Dena Mossar, who is not running for re-election this year. "Impugning that the city manager was trying to deceive the council and the public because there's an error in the staff report -- I don't go there."

Benest also used the project as an example of an appropriate balance of power. After all, he noted, the council rejected the staff's recommendation.

There have been other examples of the council rejecting Benest's ideas. For instance, in December the council voted against his proposal to shut down smaller branch libraries and focus resources on larger ones.

"You have to differentiate style and substance," Benest said. "Am I a forthright city manager? Yes. Am I timid about making recommendations? No. Does the council always agree with the city manager? No, not at all. The council oftentimes disagrees."

Yet Freeman cites the library debate as another example of Benest supposedly not following the council's recommendations. She argued Benest, despite the council's decision, is still trying to "minimize" the branch libraries.

The story behind that argument: In a letter to the City Council earlier this year, the Friends of the Palo Alto offered the city $100,000 to buy a portable building so there could be more public space in the Downtown Library. Without consulting the council, Benest rejected the gift, Freeman said.

When Freeman brought the issue before the council on Sept. 19, asking the council to discuss it, the council voted against her, 5-4. The city manager, Freeman argued, influenced that discussion releasing a three-page memo from the library director outlining reasons against accepting the gift.

Another example of the city manager supposedly exerting too much power occurred during the year's first council meeting, an informal meeting held for council members to set the city's "Top Five" priorities. Unlike during regular meetings, the city manager ran the meeting, not the mayor.

"That's their discussion," Klein said. "They (the council members) should have been running the show rather than letting Frank do it."

But Mossar disputed that notion. The council, not Benest, voted to keep the same five top priorities (city finances, infrastructure, affordable housing, land-use planning and alternative transportation) during the meeting, she noted.

"The five of us prevailed because five votes prevails," Mossar said.

Asked what difference it made, in terms of policy, to have the city manager running the meeting, Klein said: "We'll never know, will we?"

The council needs to stop rewarding Benest with "A+" performance evaluations, Klein said during a recent forum. He received applause from the crowd.

Candidate John Barton said the problem may be more complicated than an improper balance of power between staff and City Council. Teamwork is what's lacking, he suggested.

I don't think they're all clear on their roles," Barton said. "I don't think the council is staying in the policy area. I don't think that the staff is staying in the implementation area. I think they're crossing over in an unorganized way.

"If they were a team, they would understand and be united in where that gray area is and how up or down it goes. I don't think they're working that way."

Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.

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