Twenty years ago, San Diego voters changed the way City Hall operates because they were tired of finger-pointing.
The old council-manager system made it hard to know where the buck stopped. In 2004, voters approved Proposition F and gave San Diego a five-year trial of strong-mayor government. The experiment started in 2006, then four years later voters made it permanent.
The idea was pretty simple to put the mayor in charge of the administration and clearly accountable for city outcomes.
That part worked. We now know who is in charge.
What I am less sure about is whether City Hall actually works better.
I watched San Diego operate under both systems, and I do not think either side should be overjoyed. The city-manager system had conflict and made bad decisions. Strong mayor has plenty of its own.
That is why I think San Diegans are asking the wrong question when arguing which form of government is “better.”
The better question is: What have we learned over the last 20 years?
Take 101 Ash Street and Civic Center Plaza. The City Auditor reviewed more than $230 million in major building acquisitions and found problems with due diligence, unclear responsibilities, incomplete information and weakened council oversight.
Council members voted for those deals with shared responsibility. I do not buy that everything bad that happens at City Hall is only on the mayor.
But I also do not think council oversight means much if councilmembers do not have time or independent information to research what is put before them.
At Civic Center Plaza, the auditor found that the council and Independent Budget Analyst had only four days to review the lease-to-own agreement.
Four days is not enough time to kick the tires on any major real-estate deal, especially when the taxpayers are the ones buying the car.
And then there are the less glamorous problems.
The Independent Budget Analyst estimates San Diego has roughly $12.8 billion in capital needs over the next five years and only about $5 billion in expected funding. Streets, storm drains, public buildings and other basic infrastructure do not care whether City Hall is run by mayor or manager. They care whether someone can professionally plan, prioritize and execute.
That is where I think this debate needs to go.
Strong-mayor government has real advantages. A mayor can set a citywide agenda and move departments as one. Voters know whom to reward and whom to recall.
Concentrating administrative authority in one elected office creates risk. The Bob Filner chapter reminds San Diego how quickly political crisis of mayor became a problem for the whole organization.
The city-manager model has real advantages too. Professional managers can provide continuity, technical expertise and a longer view than just the next election.
Managers can become cautious, insulated or entrenched. Councils can micromanage them. Voters do not directly elect the bureaucrat running day-to-day operations.
In other words, there is no magic pill.
Rather than waiting for the next scandal, budget crisis or ballot fight, San Diego should create a standing, independent Charter Review Commission.
Not another blue-ribbon committee meeting a few months, producing a binder and then disappearing.
Rather a permanent body that continually asks whether our system is actually working.
It should include people who understand public administration, municipal finance, labor, law and government operations. Not a clubhouse of experts.
Residents should have a voice as well as businesses, neighborhood groups, city employees and others who deal with City Hall every day.
The process should be public. The evidence should be public. And when the commission recommends change, voters should be able to hear what it considered, rejected and why.
Maybe the answer is to keep strong-mayor system and strengthen the safeguards around it.
Maybe San Diego should restore more authority to a professional manager.
Maybe the right answer is somewhere in between.
I do not know the answer today. No one does.
But Proposition F began as an experiment and should be continually evaluated.
A strong mayor and a strong City Council should fear a strong review of the charter that defines both.
San Diego spent 20 years driving this model.
It is time to pull over, pop the hood and see what is actually working.
Mat Kostrinsky is a small-business owner and public policy consultant specializing in government infrastructure, labor relations and legislative advocacy. He lives in Del Cerro.
