In fall of 2020, the last time Sean Joyce walked into South Pasadena City Hall to serve a stop-gap leadership role during a tumultuous time in city finances, he had “more questions than answers,” including “what is the current cash position of the city and are all funds accounted for?”
As he arrived Monday morning Feb. 10 to reprise that role, similar questions await.
“I know there are still outstanding unreconciled ledgers, as was the case when I was in South Pasadena last time. That issue appears to continue and needs to be resolved.”
He knows that: there are questions about restricted and specific funds; the latest audit is delayed; there’s no schedule to develop the coming fiscal year budget; the finance director and controller positions are vacant; and that council on Wednesday more than doubled what it’s paying an accounting consultant Lance, Soll & Lunghard (LSL) to run the city’s jerry-rigged staff of a handful of finance employees and contractors.
Prior to his Monday arrival Joyce, who had not been tacking city affairs since his last engagement here, had two lengthy conversations with outgoing Interim City Manager Don Penman and one “properly noticed” closed session during which he was “briefed at a very level on several matters” and the council’s expectations, but “nothing in depth.”
He watched most of the council’s five-hour public meeting Wednesday, featuring the LSL’s 12-minute “finance update” and the 30-minute discussion to up LSL’s compensation another $345,000, equal to about ten percent the finance department’s budget.
From those meetings Joyce devised four objectives, one of which is to “immediately attend to the development of the annual budget and preparation of associated financial documents.” He said he will “make sure our efforts continue to address all outstanding issues in the finance department, and that we do so responsibly and with due haste.”
“I have asked to be briefed on my first day on all matters financial that are outstanding.”
Joyce’s other objectives, more generic, are to: “continue momentum in pursuit of city council policy goals; ensure continuity of all city services and provide organizational stability; and facilitate the smooth transition to the new city manager.”
The high-level briefing included the status of city’s housing element, the recent certification of which is contingent on further public process to refine zoning adjustments needed to comply with last November’s ballot measure repealing the city-wide building height limit, but not its imminent acquisition of a dozen-or-so more Caltrans homes.
Joyce anticipates his interim tenure with the city this time will be “no less than a month-and-a-half to two months,” but not so long that he will have to rebook his already scheduled vacation plans.
Mayor Braun agrees. “We hope to have an announcement in a week or two” on who will be the next permanent city manager. Council has narrowed down the candidates brought to it under a $31,000 recruitment contract with Ralph Anderson & Assoc., but as the likely candidate may already be serving as city manager, a six-to-eight gap is needed to give that person time to serve reasonable notice to his or her current employer.
All three of the city’s most recent previous city managers had not previously served in that position, Braun noted. “In my opinion, we need someone with vast experience.”
That is especially so, she said, because the city has also in the midst of doing staff work and running public processes to think through the finance and planning of what she roughly estimates will be an $80 million, multi-year infrastructure improvement plan that includes approximately $20 million in road improvements, the already-presented $25 million golf course redevelopment, and about $30 million to upgrade the library/community room/senior center.
“One of the things we talked to city manager candidates about is this is a huge opportunity for someone who wants to get these things moving and set a future for South Pasadena. It’s a positive story.”
