City manager idea remains on the table, appears to gain support

For resident Mike Petosa, there’s no reason to overturn City Hall by putting a professional city manager in charge instead of a mayor.
“The city is not broke, so you don’t have to fix it,” Petosa told the Charter Revision Commission Tuesday. “Our city is thriving.”
But Craig Yarde, a businessman, sees things quite differently.
“Our community’s organizational structure is kind of broke, if not completely broken,” Yarde told the seven-member that’s weighing whether to recommend one of the biggest changes since the charter’s adoption in 1911.
Members of the committee haven’t decided whether to plunge ahead wholeheartedly with the revision, but a majority expressed support for the idea on Tuesday. They scheduled a special session January 7 to make a decision about whether to proceed with the shakeup plan.
For city Councilor Frank Nicastro, who served as mayor for 10 years until he stepped down in 2003, moving ahead with the proposal would be a mistake.
“Don’t take something that’s worked so well for almost 100 years and throw it out the window,” Nicastro said.
“We have a great system. It isn’t failing. It hasn’t failed,” Nicastro said.
But Ken Johnson, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for mayor this year and has already said he intends to try again in 2009, told the panel to seize the concept.
“Ignore the politicians,” Johnson told the committee. “It’s critically important that you put the earmuffs on and tune out all the politicians.”
He said the issue is so important that it deserves “a really objective, fact-based review” before the commission completes its report on recommended charter changes, which is due in April.
Supporters argue that putting a professional manager at the helm would improve the city government’s efficiency, provide far more oversight of department heads, allow for longer term planning, ensure continuity at the top and ensure expertise in municipal administration.
Detractors say that a manager only has to satisfy a majority of the City Council, not the entire community, and doesn’t have the lifelong commitment to Bristol that its mayors have typically shown.
“You’ve got to eat, sleep and drink the job,” said Nicastro, who hailed all 19 of Bristol’s mayors through the years for making honest efforts to improve the city. He pointed out that none of them were ever charged with any form of graft because they put Bristol’s needs first.
But committee members said they can see the need for more professional administration at City Hall, whether in the form of a manager or an expert who would work for the mayor to handle operations.
Gail Hartmann, one of the charter commissioners, said it would be irresponsible for the panel to drop the issue when it’s so clear that the city’s many professional supervisors need reviews and recognition for the jobs they do.
A manager would be able to provide constructive criticism, said Maria Pirro, who also serves on the commission.
“There is no real management in city government today,” said Dick Prindle, another commissioner.
Tim Furey, chairman of the charter panel, said he sees “a lot of little mini-fiefdoms” within city government that would act more efficiently if they were coordinated by someone with the training to oversee them.
“It’s worth exploring,” Furey said.
The charter commission’s recommendations are slated to reach the council in April. Councilors can accept them, reject them or ask the panel to revise them. Any proposals the council backs would go on the November general election ballot because voters get the last word on any changes to the charter.
The members of the charter panel Furey, Hartmann, Prindle, Al Marko, Pirro, Hal Kilby and Harley Graham.

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com