News Analysis

It’s a fact: Certain Sacramento city council members are angry with high-level city staffers about their role in current city scandals. The council members’ tense relationship with city staffers was apparent in several harsh remarks made at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond directed critical comments toward Utilities Director Marty Hanneman during a debate over issues outlined in a grand jury report. The Jan. 6 report claims the city may not be adhering to Proposition 218, a state law that mandates how city funds are to be used.

“I have to tell you: I have no confidence in your cost allocations,” Hammond told Hanneman. “It’s not personal — I just don’t believe you.”

Hammond expressed the view that annual increases in utilities rates have been higher than the costs of delivering the service. She said she has been raising concerns “for years” that the rate increases have been improper.

Prop. 218 requires utilities fee increases and service delivery costs to be proportional. Fee increases have a single use: to cover the costs of delivering the service, according to the law.

Sacramento residents have been “tricked,” she said.

“I don’t usually get personal with staff because I know everybody’s trying to do their job,” Hammond said. “But something is seriously wrong here and we have not fixed it. And management has not fixed it.”

Hanneman did not make any statements in response to Hammond’s criticism.

He explained Wednesday in an interview that the city’s protocol is for staffers not to debate with council members at City Council meetings. To debate with council members is disrespectful, Hanneman said.

“I just listen and take it in,” Hanneman said.

He pointed out that elected officials sometimes vent their frustrations.

“That’s part of doing business at the city,” Hanneman said. “I don’t take it personally. I take everything they say seriously and move on.”

Councilman Rob Fong faulted both the City Council and city staffers for the Prop. 218 situation. He said council members learned about Prop. 218 concerns during summer 2008 but did not address them.

“We need to do better; it’s just unacceptable,” Fong said.

Council members need to acknowledge that they are part of the problem, he said. However, he added that each council member has a small two-member staff. Plus, several council members have other jobs outside of their City Council position.

“We rely so heavily upon you all to collectively give us the information we need to make the decisions that we need to make at a policy level,” Fong said, addressing city staffers.

Fong said that the City Council finds out after the fact that legal memos from the city attorney’s office have been sent to top city staffers but not to council members.

He suggested that the City Council adopt a rule to require that all legal opinions being shown to top staff officials also be sent to council members.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said staff did not inform council members about the possible Prop. 218 violations.

“We say we didn’t know about it,” Sheedy said. “We really truly didn’t know about it. And it makes us look like fools.”

Sheedy echoed Fong’s idea, saying the council should receive all legal findings that come out of the city attorney’s office.

“I have a real problem with being left out in the dark and then getting all the blame,” she said.

Read the grand jury report here.

Hanneman’s report can be read here.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.