NEWS - Editorial & Opinion

Editorial

The hiring of a new Savannah city manager is far too critical an issue to be muddied with the current controversy, involving a great deal of finger-pointing in multiple directions.

The city manager is responsible for the operations of city government and its various departments, a budget of more than $270 million, approximately 2,500 employees, insuring that the needs of its citizens are met. It is the highest appointed position within city government.

In the summer of 2010, after 15 years as Savannah city manager,  Michael Brown left to take a similar position with the city of Arlington, VA. He lasted only four months on the job amid allegations of friction with the Arlington city administration.

Following Brown’s departure, the city council named Rochelle Small-Toney as acting city manager until a replacement could be found, enlisting the aid of executive search firm Affion Public to seek out viable candidates.

Among the contenders are Wayne Cauthen, former city manager for Kansas City, Mo.; Pat Digiovanni, deputy city manager for San Antonio, Tex.; Alfred Lott, current city manager for Albany, Ga., and Small-Toney.

On the surface, all the candidates would seem to have suitable background s to fill the role. Nevertheless, two city aldermen – Tony Thomas and Jeff Felser – have called into question the efforts of Affion Public.

Both have raised issues regarding the thoroughness of Affion’s search, suggesting that the firm failed to find the best of the best, while inadequately screening the candidates it did put forward. The firm was paid approximately $30,000 for its efforts.

It’s now alleged that Affion ignored Cauthen’s history with Kansas City, having left the city $60 million in the hole, plus allegations of improperly billing personal travel to city expenses. It is also claimed that Affion failed to reveal to Savannah’s aldermen that Lott had submitted his resignation to the city of Albany.

Affion Public is currently conducting a similar search on behalf of Columbia, Mo. CEO Scott Reilly defended his company’s process in the Columbia Daily Tribune, saying “We provide a one-inch binder on every candidate. And we briefed the council on the candidates for about two hours.” He claims the backgrounds his firm provided were “warts and all.”

Concurrently, it’s come to light that Savannah’s insurance underwriter  rejected Small-Toney for a $1 million bond, the instrument that protects the public from financial loss due to improper behavior. The bond is a requirement of the position and should have been secured in May before she was named.
Alderman Van Johnson has now suggested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conduct a probe to discover the source of confidential information regarding Small-Toney's bond issue.

While raising the issues of locating the most qualified candidates, as well as maintaining a certain level of confidentiality within the city’s human resources, is all very well, there are bigger issues to consider here.

City officials seem interested in criticizing the consulting firm whom they themselves enlisted to find a new city manager, claiming the firm failed do its due diligence. But did Savannah’s city council do theirs when originally contracting with the firm in question?

Also, there is the matter of the leak of confidential information regarding Small-Toney’s bond. Pointing the finger at an as-yet-unidentified whistle-blower seems less important than the fact that the interim city manager lacks the proper bond which would protect the city from certain legal liabilities – and has been on the job for approximately seven months. Who should take ownership of that mistake?  Looks like it’s the city council.

Savannah’s elected officials, as well as Small-Toney herself, are keeping mum on the specific reason as to why the city’s insurance underwriter declined to bond her, and they need to talk start talking.

To regard it as in internal personnel matter pales in comparison to the need for transparent local government, especially that which involves spending  thousands of city dollars and the position of the city’s highest appointed administrator.

If the question can not be adequately answered, Small-Toney’s application for the position should be taken off the table immediately.

While the city has not only the right, but the responsibility, to question those with whom it contracts – in this case Affion Public – the political jockeying that has taken place has generated nothing but bad publicity for potential city administrators that might consider Savannah as a place to work.  Such negative opinion only serves to drive away any of the potentially better candidates which city council had hoped to find.

As for the original source of the information regarding the city manager bond, it would seems he or she acted in the public interest, revealing the legal inadequacies of the current occupant of the position. They should be thanked.

Either endorse the current search firm and send it back to extend the search, or undertake the search on its own.  The position has been open for far too long.