Gloria fires city's COO amid $5 million in budget cuts
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images
Mayor Todd Gloria fired the most powerful bureaucrat in city government Tuesday as part of his ongoing effort to balance the city's budget with a $258 million looming shortfall.
Why it matters: The structure of the city's government now puts more power in the mayor's office than any time since voters approved a "strong mayor" form of government 20 years ago.
Follow the money: Gloria saved $5.3 million from next year's budget, eliminating 30 currently vacant positions while consolidating seven departments into larger operations.
- He eliminated one position that is currently filled, leading to the immediate departure of chief operating officer Eric Dargan and folding his responsibilities into the mayor's office.
Flashback: Voters in 2004 approved a change from a form of government in which the council appointed a city manager who acted as an executive over the bureaucracy, to one in which the mayor was that executive.
- Every mayor since has delegated authority to a COO to oversee department heads, including the police chief, although the new city charter did not require it.
What he's saying: "The first strong mayor created the first chief operating officer. That has been the status quo for the last 20 years or so," Gloria said.
- "I believe we can make this reduction, the people of San Diego won't necessarily feel it."
What's next: Gloria's new city organizational chart puts department heads under four deputy COOs who answer directly to him, as do the city's chief financial officer along with the police and fire chiefs.
By the numbers: Tuesday's announced cuts amount to 2% of the city's looming shortfall, which includes administrative savings from consolidating departments but overwhelmingly relies on savings from eliminating unfilled positions in those departments from next year's budget.
- Gloria cut seven vacant jobs in the sustainability and mobility department, and split the rest of that office's work across five other departments.
- The Department of Race and Equity — created in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's murder — is now part of human resources, with two vacant jobs cut.
- Gloria moved the office of child and youth services to a division within the library department, and eliminated its vacant executive director position.
- He transferred the department of cultural affairs under economic development.
The overall savings include $2.8 million from eliminating 16 vacant middle manager jobs in various departments, too.
What we're watching: Gloria is required to release a balanced budget by mid April, and city leaders in recent weeks criticized both him and Dargan for not acting with enough urgency.