Pond
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bill emory
In our town, there is one Council meeting every two years opened by the City Manager. This is the first meeting following the expiration of the Mayor’s term when the City Councilors choose one of their colleagues to be the boss of the dais for the next two years, and another of their colleagues to be the underboss.
Now, Charlottesville is a bit of a machine politics town; all the Councilors are Democrats. They do argue amongst themselves, have healthy debates, intrigues, kerfuffles. They get things done, spend money.
Still, I like the pretense that a vote will be taken; it just feels more democratic.
So, do they do this every time– telegraph the result of the vote before the vote? That is Mr. Jones, our excellent City Manager, sitting on the mayoral throne, gaveling open the January 3 meeting. And the sign in front says Huja.
Satyendra Huja is the mayor who was elected several minutes later.
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Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
41 comments
Behind closed doors - this has been the modus operandi of much of council's decision making of late, and the symbolism you captured was not lost on the public. Thanks Bill for documenting this.
What is it about elected officials that love closed doors and keeping information away from the public?
The reality, Charlottesville officials get away with whatever they choose to do. They make sure the rules are spun to suit themselves and their mission. Works every time because no one stops them.
Before Christmas the discussion was about The Community Water Plan.
On Jan 3rd it was about The Cost Share of a few of the components.
No public vote caused the change, so what do you think happened?
I don't know if it's quite that sinister.
Basically I think they talk and decide how they're going to vote ahead of time, then they do it officially.
Oh I get it. The "gods of Charlottesville" decide in private the come public and advise the public, vote unanimous and move on. Sounds like a monarchy to me.
Not sure why the chosing of the new mayor is being treated like some nefarious conspiracy. It's basically what dan1101 said. There'd been talk for months prior to the 1/3/12 meeting about electing Huja. Dave Norris has been at it for what, going on four years now? They decided to give somebody else a shot. Everybody, including the general public, knew months ago that Holly and Dave Brown were not seeking re-election, so that would leave Huja as the next longest Councilor after Edwards' and Brown's departure. So is that some nefarious conspiracy, or is it just common sense?
Does Bill Emory seriously expect that none of the Councilors and City Manager were going to talk about what I just outlined, and then arrive at the meeting completely clueless, proceeding blindly?
But while we're on this subject, I personally don't think that the mayor should be somebody that's chosen by the other Councilors. The Mayor should be chosen by the people.
You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill. This is merely how they pick the person who bangs the gavel - a largely ceremonial position with no real authority. It hardly constitutes some sort of sinister cover-up.
In a town this size, the mayor should absolutely NOT be an elected position. We already have a city manager performing the executive functions of city government. Trusting those functions to the vagaries of small town politics would be foolhardy.
@ Chuck Bartowski
I'm not following your logic. Could you better explain what you mean?
How about the Boards & Commissions? They drag out the nominations, no discussion, then a vote. Unanimous.
Galvin got RWSA, why? What are her qualifications? Why not Smith who has followed RWSA for years?
Its all behind closed doors in the privacy of the "gods of Charlottesville".
@ Richard Lloyd
How is it a monarchy of the gods of Charlottesville? There was nothing different this year than how it's been in past years.
The people elect the councilors.
The councilors decide who among them should receive the "figurehead" title of Mayor.
How is it a monarchy? The people elected Huja. Just like the people elected every other councilor that's ever become mayor.
Where's the conspiracy here?
Your logic makes no sense. Even if the councilors and City Manager had *not* discussed anything prior to the 1/3/12 meeting, and just proceeded blindly, making it up as they went along, but then still decided to unanimously support the idea of Huja being the new Mayor, how would that have been any different?
You're not making any sense.
@ Not a conspiracy:
No problem.
Local governments come in many shapes and sizes, but they all basically have some form of legislative authority (city council, town council, commission, board of supervisors, etc...) and executive authority (mayor, city manager) with separation of powers and checks and balances between the branches.
In most small towns, legislative functions are served quite well by a popularly elected body responsible for policy decisions, passage of local ordinances, and appropriations. However, the job of overseeing administrative operations, implementing policy, and advising council is done much better by a professional hired for that purpose - someone who is not beholden to a particular political structure and who has some training in the field of local government administration - than to a popularly-elected but possibly unqualified and certainly transitory (depending on term length and/or term limits) mayor.
The Manager serves at the pleasure of the popularly-elected Council (providing an adequate check on his/her authority - in my mind), and his/her powers are strictly delineated by City Charter.
Strong mayors may work just fine in large cities with more (and more autonomous) departments and more heterogenous populations. But a town the size of Charlottesville does not need a popularly elected mayor, at least not one with any authority.
Not a conspiracy, Lloyd is correct.
There is bad blood. In fact, we have dictators as officials. There is little genuine diversity. Just a WHITE City council OVERSEEN by Democrats only. Are not 20% of city residents independents or Republican? The ward system must be fixed to provide representation.
@ Chuck Bartowski
I get what you're saying, though you're delving way more into whatever it was that I was getting at with my original comment. ("The Mayor should be chosen by the people.") I suppose in the end for a town of this size it doesn't matter that the mayor is determined by the council vs. the people. But I would disagree that Charlottesville's mayors don't have any authority as you're saying. As 1/5th of the voting Council, they're part of the very small group of people who are determining all the laws and ordinances for the entire city. So they do have authority - though it's an authority that's shared with the other four councilors.
And also, the Council hires and fires (or "fails to renew the contract of") the City Manager. The City Manager is at the mercy of the Council's whim, of which includes the Mayor.
Council makes the rules and policies that govern and affect everybody in the City. Council hires and fires the City Manager. So with this in mind, it means what you were originally saying ("We already have a city manager performing the executive functions of city government. Trusting those functions to the vagaries of small town politics would be foolhardy.") makes no real sense either. The City Manager position doesn't have the power that you seem to think it does. And a City Manager that isn't in line (and kissing the butt of) the Councilors is a City Manager that will most likely see their job go bye-bye when their contract is up for renewal.
@ Big John
"There is little genuine diversity. Just a WHITE City council OVERSEEN by Democrats only. Are not 20% of city residents independents or Republican? The ward system must be fixed to provide representation."
We have a purely white council? Really? Since when is Mr. Huja considered white? Last time I checked he was from India. I bet Mr. Huja would love to hear that he suddenly became white!
And how quickly you forget that we just had Holly Edwards for the last 2 years. You're making it sound like Charlottesville's had nothing but all white people on its council for decades. (And that's not even counting the black City Manager who's been in effect since 2010.)
If non-white people of Charlottesville *chose* not to run for Council this past year then how is it the City of Charlottesville's fault when there's a lack of additional non-white people on the Council?
Get out there and start pointing fingers at the non-white community of Charlottesville for not being more involved. All the Hispanic, Asian, Native American, African American, Middle Eastern etc. residents of this city who sat back and *chose* not to get involved with running for Council.
You want a non-white majority council then get out there and start organizing. You have a year before Dave Norris and Kristin Szakos' positions will be open and available. That's plenty of time.
I'm with you when it comes to the complaint about the all Democratic council. I'm not a Dem, (not a Republican either for that matter) but I would love to see a little more political diversity in this city. But I don't get how you can insinuate that there is a racial conspiracy when it comes to who's who on the Council, at this point in 2012. **It's a lack of people who want to get involved.** Let's see, we had one Native American running last fall - James Halfaday - who turned out to be pathological. So, nobody voted for him. Then there was one African American woman, Colette Blount. And she simply didn't garner enough votes. There were seven whites and only two non-whites competing for the three available positions last fall. Where were all the other people of color besides those two?
The only way more non-white people can get on Council is if more non-white people get out there and make it happen.
It's time for a ward system. Let's make that happen
@ Not a Conspiracy:
I think we are talking past one another. Or in circles. I'll try this again...
1. Charlottesville's mayors DON'T have any particular authority BEYOND that of a City Councilor (with the exception that they get to talk the most in meetings and bang the gavel). They are certainly not considered the chief executive officer of the city in the sense that mayors in large cities are thought of. That being the case, I see no reason to hold a distinct election to fill such a ceremonial position.
2. Practically speaking, city managers ARE insulated from much of the political intrigue that surrounds Council. Even though he/she serves at the pleasure of Council, a competent City Manager will serve for a much longer duration (and provide greater stability/continuity) than an elected mayor who must periodically interrupt his/her administrative obligations to seek re-election or who must step aside to comply with term limits. The ability of Council to hire and fire the City Manager should be considered an appropriate check by the legislative branch on the executive branch. Nothing more.
3. Whether preparing budgets, hiring administrative officers, overseeing record keeping, supervising the heads of various departments, etc..., whatever authority the city manager exercises (and it is certainly more than you seem to think) is far better exercised by a professional administrator than by a part-time politician.
So you say the City Manager is elected by and serves at the pleasure of City Council. True as shown in Section 5 of the City Code. http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=12078
But City Council has no regard to Section 6 which says Officiers elected by City Council SHALL live within the city limits. http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=12078
As much as I like our City Manager, the "gods of Charlottesville" feel like they can disregard the Code of Charlottesville and substitute their own wishes.
@ Chuck Bartowski:
"3. Whether preparing budgets, hiring administrative officers, overseeing record keeping, supervising the heads of various departments, etc..., whatever authority the city manager exercises (and it is certainly more than you seem to think) is far better exercised by a professional administrator than by a part-time politician."
Nobody said anything about the City Manager until you, which is why I asked you earlier if you could clarify, because your logic wasn't making sense. All I said was that there wasn't some nefarious conspiracy concerning Huja becoming mayor, and then I added my two cents opinion that I felt it should be up to the people to determine who the mayor is, not the Council. Then you replied, "We already have a city manager performing the executive functions of city government. Trusting those functions to the vagaries of small town politics would be foolhardy."
That's where the trouble began. Your comment was implying that I was saying that a mayor determined by the people would somehow be taking over for the "executive functions" of the government. I said nor implied no such thing. All I said was that I felt the decision should be in the people's hands. But I never implied that there would somehow be a grand change in the mayor's job duties were he to be decided by the people versus the Council.
From there it just went downhill. Your next post answered my request for clarification with several paragraphs about the legislative functions of a City Manager - again, which nobody here was even discussing. I mean yeah, thanks for responding so quickly to my request for clarification, but at the same time it's evident now that the answer has just created sidetrack nonsense, which I then had to respond to, which caused yet another post from you debating the City Manager's job duties and functions. So we're not "talking past one another." Rather, you made an initial wrong assumption early on, which thus inserted superfluous side track debate about the City Manager into the discussion. Spouting on and on about the job duties of the City Manager does not make one right about the initial discussion/debate at hand: which is whether there really was some nefarious conspiratorial machinations at work in nominating Huja for Mayor.
As far as this goes: "That being the case, I see no reason to hold a distinct election to fill such a ceremonial position." I never said the process had to be a distinct election. I merely said that it should be a position determined by the people. Whatever process that would involve. So, that was you making assumptions there. BUT, as I mentioned earlier: "I suppose in the end for a town of this size it doesn't matter that the mayor is determined by the council vs. the people." I mean, I *did* say this, so, I conceded that point. Not sure why you're still beating on that dead horse.
Now, as far as what Bill Emory said in his article above, "Still, I like the pretense that a vote will being taken; it just feels more democratic....[...] So, do they do this every time– telegraph the result of the vote before the vote?" All I can say is that again, even if the councilors and City Manager had never discussed anything amongst themselves prior to the January 3rd meeting, and just made it up as they went along and decided spur of the moment to unanimously vote in favor of Huja being the new Mayor, then *it's the same flippin' outcome.* So what's Bill Emory's issue? Seriously. **What exactly is this guy arguing about??**
Of course the councilors and City Manager discussed Huja becoming the next mayor ahead of time. Probably months ahead of time. Everybody already knew that Dave Brown and Holly were leaving, and that Norris was approaching his four year mark as Mayor. They probably figured it was time to give somebody else a chance, and Huja is the logical common sense conclusion, being the next longest term Councilor. If Szakos wins re-election then she'll most likely be the next Mayor after Huja. This isn't conspiracy Bill Emory and folks. It's not even psychic powers and "seeing into the future." It's common sense.
...And meanwhile, there's actual real, serious conspiracies happening all around us in the world.
Charlottesville had a Ward for a century before dropping ca 1959.
Legal question - is the city manager serving illegally ? Or asked in another way - is city council breaking the law ?
It's too bad that Council didn't choose the best candidate for Mayor instead of the one who has served longest. Based on his performance at the first 2012 council meeting, Huja is going to be a hard pill to swallow.
bill emory must be smiling if he reads some of the comments posted.
a keen and wry observer of the local scene; over the years he has been to a few meetings
of commissions and all in this town ; and knows the drill.
he usually tags his photography with perhaps one line; here he expanded a bit.
the code words are not difficult to find....the city council as a "pond";
the cheeky reference to the "boss" and the "underboss"
"the pretense " and it "feels" democratic...
emory ends taking you back to the beginning..."the mayoral throne" of this pond of a town.
fair to say bill emory has made his point.
think he might agree with richard lloyd comment about "the gods of charlottesville
So lets see;
City Council met in private to discuss and decide who the Mayor and Vice Mayor Shall be. Then publicly voted the pre ordained vote.
Then they met in private to fill all the Boards and Commissions vacancies. Then publicly voted the pre ordained vote.
Then they violated the requirement that the City Manager actually live within the city by writing a contract revision permitting that to occur in private. Then publicly voted the pre ordained vote.
All this in the very first meeting of 2012.
Now in the second meeting what do we think will happen to Section 28
Sec. 28. - Sale of public utilities; approval by voters.
The rights of the city in its gas, water and electric works, and sewer plant, now owned, or hereafter acquired, shall not be sold even after such action of the council as is prescribed by Code of Virginia of 1919, [4] section 3016, until and except such sale shall have been approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the city, voting on the question at a special election ordered by the council and subject in other respects to the provisions of section 24 [27] of this Charter applicable to a special election.
@ Not a Conspiracy:
Don't get your panties in a wad.
I see now that I did read more into your initial comment than you had intended. Though to be fair, most folks around here who seek an elected mayor, seek one with some actual authority (i.e. Strong Mayor) - not the puffed-up ceremonial figure (read: Weak Mayor) that we currently have - which would, in turn, at least partly obviate the need for a city manager. Dave Norris, for instance, has recently ruminated publicly on the need for a full-time, elected mayor. And he certainly does not intend the position to be merely ceremonial. Thus my confusion over your initial assertion that "the Mayor should be chosen by the people". I reasonably assumed you were following a train of thought similar to Dave's. Apologies.
And yes, I suppose you did eventually concede (weakly) the point that it does not really matter how the empty suit that we call "mayor" is chosen. However, doing so by way of a rather circuitous defense of the power of Charlottesville's mayor ( "But I would disagree that Charlottesville's mayors don't have any authority as you're saying..."), only muddies the water further (at least from where I sit).
While we're beating this dead horse, I'm confused about something else. What exactly did you mean by: "it should be a position determined by the people. Whatever process that would involve."?
I'll bite. What process WOULD that involve besides some sort of election? I mean, God forbid that I make another false assumption about your meaning, but what else could you have possibly meant? Maybe a city-wide rock, paper, scissors tournament where the winner gets to pick the Grand Poobah? Cow-flop bingo? Darts?
On the bright side, we DO agree that there was nothing nefarious in Mr. Huja's selection to the center seat.
@ Richard Lloyd
"City Council met in private to discuss and decide who the Mayor and Vice Mayor Shall be. Then publicly voted the pre ordained vote."
hmmm. Not sure what part of this you're not getting: "...even if the councilors and City Manager had never discussed anything amongst themselves prior to the January 3rd meeting, and just made it up as they went along and decided spur of the moment to unanimously vote in favor of Huja being the new Mayor, then *it's the same flippin' outcome.*"
That outcome being the nomination of a new - figurehead - mayor. Somebody who happened to be the next longest term councilor after the departure of Brown and Edwards, and thus was logically the next in line to inherit the figurehead title.
Really not getting what the problem is regarding Huja's nomination to mayor.
Somewhere a Happy Meal is missing a few of its fries.
(btw, me taking on the illogical conspiracy theorists doesn't mean I'm a fan of Huja, or that I'm against the idea of conspiracy theories. I just like to challenge people who are being illogical. :D )
Good catch, Bill.
Otherwise, folks: Virginia law prohibits elected officials from doing public business in private. If three Councilors were to meet in private to discuss a matter on an upcoming agenda, they would be in violation. Just Google: Virginia open meeting laws.
Looks to me like an illegal meeting decided who would be mayor. As noted above, Virginia law prohibits elected officials from doing public business in private.
Is Jones still not a city resident? If so, it's time to hire someone who cares enough about this city to live in it. THat should be Huja's first priority as Mayor.
We are giving Jones a loan to pay off his mortgage in the County, and we will finance a house in the City limits also. He will then be in compliance. He's going to have to pay it back, just interest free. Times are hard for people making 200K a year.
BTW, what makes him (Jones) so excellent? Please tell us...how do you define excellence Bill? By showing up? By looking good?
I don't believe you can offer an interest-free loan...........
@ Antoinette Rhodes
"Otherwise, folks: Virginia law prohibits elected officials from doing public business in private."
Well here's an interesting question - at what point does personal chit chat step over the line and become something that constitutes public business being done in private?
@Dahmius
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle
Since we're getting philosophical,..
Wouldn't acting rightly in Jones's case have included adhering to the terms of his employment contract? I would say so.
How many failures to act rightly are allowed in an excellent person? What if a single failure to act rightly has precipitated a series of additional failures? In this case Jones's failure to honor the terms of his contract has led to the failure of city council to do their duty to enforce the term of the contract they entered into on our behalf.
In my view, the idea that there is any "excellence" at work in City Hall is a joke. Jones's hiring was itself an example of behind the scenes decision making. The "search" for O'Connell's replacement was as transparent of a scam as the "vote" for Huja and was nothing but a money wasting sideshow leading to the inevitable. Jones has been given a free pass twice now it seems (if not more) and frankly, I can't see a thing he's done for the city to have earned that.
Bill that's just more elitist B.S....why do you say Jones is excellent? What makes him excellent to you?
Now we have to go along with a city counsel of which we wonder :What were they thinking?, a mayor of whom we can wonder: "What was he saying?"
Bill wasn't imputing excellence to Jones, only pointing out what excellence truly consists of...
We here in America, where all works out for the best in this best of all possible worlds, we use the term loosely...
Read it again Angel. He says..."That is Mr. Jones, our excellent City Manager, sitting on the mayoral throne." Excellent City Manager imputes that he is an excellent city manager. So one more time, what makes him so excellent? That's what I thought. No one can say. He's sitting on a throne alright. A politically correct one atop a cult of personality.
I took his use of the phrase " our excellent City Manager" as an example of irony.
Merriam-Webster defines irony as:
1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other’s false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony
2: a) the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
b) a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony
c) an ironic expression or utterance
3: a) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result; an event or result marked by such incongruity
b) incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony, tragic irony