Paulette Brown-Hinds
Who is to blame for San Bernardino’s woes? Or should the question be… What?
San Bernardino. Stockton. Vallejo.What do these three California cities have in common? Not only have all three cities filed for bankruptcy protection (Vallejo in 2008, Stockton in 2012, and San Bernardino also in 2012), they are all charter cities instead of general law cities, what writer Jeremy Rozansky calls a “template for dysfunction” in the article “The Problem and Promise of Charter Cities.” (City Journal, August 2012)
I believe Rozansky’s summation on the topic is worth sharing as San Bernardino voters prepare to respond to the recall effort in November’s general election:
All three are charter cities, rather than general-law cities. The distinction is important. General-law cities are governed according to guidelines established by the state government, including restrictions on mayoral discretion and limits to city workers’ salaries. Charter cities, by contrast, are governed according to their own charters—a system that carries with it some drawbacks, notably in the realm of public salaries. Often, a city charter goes beyond San Bernardino’s approach of tying pay to wealthier cities and actually leaves it limitless, inviting corruption. Rough-and-tumble Compton, which may follow San Bernardino into bankruptcy, is a charter city, as is Bell, a poor city of 36,000, which made national news in 2010 when the Los Angeles Times discovered that the city manager was making $788,000 a year and part-time city council members were paying themselves more than $100,000.
He continues:
Just as charters can make cities worse, they may be able to make them better—it all depends on who’s in charge. (Mayor Patrick) Morris and some other city leaders have tried to put charter reform on the local ballot, hoping to abolish the sections that inflate city workers’ pay and empower the city attorney to battle the mayor. Charter reform in San Bernardino could eliminate the city’s doubling of the executive power by making the city attorney an appointed position, answerable to the mayor and council—who are, in turn, accountable to the voters. It could also eliminate the provision that sets city employee salaries so high.
So if, as he argues, how well a charter city fares depends on the city’s leadership, then it is clear the leadership is failing the residents and citizens of the city of San Bernardino. Perhaps as the residents decide who should lead the city, they should seriously consider how to push for charter reform as the next order of business.