CRA = Community Redevelopment Agency
Hollywood has one CRA (with two districts) and two CRA Directors (Beach CRA Director and Downtown CRA Director). These CRA Directors report directly to our elected officials, bypassing the City Manager.
This CRA structure led to an extraordinary display of dysfunction in our city government earlier this month. During a public hearing, it suddenly became clear that high-level city staff did not agree with each other. The Downtown CRA Director was urging adoption of a project that the City Manager and Planning Director did not support. The Downtown CRA Director had felt confident bringing the project before the Commission even though the City Manager and Planning Director opposed it, because he had lobbied the commissioners individually and knew he had the votes. It seems that at least some of the commissioners had not done enough homework to know about the high-level staff disagreement until it was exposed at the public hearing.
Not only do the CRA Directors not report to the City Manager. In addition, they do not follow procurement, travel, hiring, and other city policies.
Last week, our elected officials held a workshop and a public hearing to consider whether and how to rectify this anomaly. The one change that seemed particularly urgent was to have the CRA Directors report to the City Manager, just as all the department heads do. Mayor Bober, Commissioner Blattner, and Commissioner O'Sheehan advocated forcefully for this change, as did numerous members of the public. The idea was that each CRA Director would continue to do his job but would report to the City Manager instead of directly to the elected officials.
But the four other commissioners -- Asseff, Furr, Russo, and Sherwood -- fought back against any proposed managerial change and they prevailed. The Sun-Sentinel summed up this outcome as "business as usual" in Hollywood. Mayor Bober noted the irony of newly elected commissioners whose campaigns were based on "the need for change" opposing change now that they are in office.
In an effort at compromise, Commissioner Blattner later proposed that the City Manager "participate" in all discussions with the CRAs related to organization, reorganization, and budget issues. The City Commission voted unanimously to approve this "participation" substitute for managerial reform.
The CRA Directors continue as managers accountable only to the elected officials. They are now required to allow the City Manager to "participate" in their discussions, but he has no authority over them. For their part, the elected officials have said they want more meetings and more workshops in order to keep on top of the CRA managerial responsibilities the majority do not want to delegate to the City Manager.
Do you consider the Downtown and Beach CRAs as separate from the city, so that the Downtown should be managed by one CRA Director, the Beach by another CRA Director, and the rest of the City managed by the City Manager? Or do you consider that the City of Hollywood includes the Beach and Downtown and the over-all management should be coordinated by the City Manager? Give it some thought and let us know. (e-mail link here)
Read Commissioner Blattner's blog in which he comments on City Commission and CRA Board actions.
Check Hollywood Cartoonist MKJarolmen's website for his commentary on the City-CRA restructuring effort. Click on the CURRENT link from his home page.
