Gloria Wants Overhaul of City Management Structure

Interim Mayor Todd Gloria said Thursday he plans to overhaul the city of San Diego's executive management structure and will present his proposals to the City Council by the end of this month.

"This is a way to prevent everything from being funneled through one person, as it was in the previous administration," Gloria said at his weekly news briefing.

That person is the one who fills the role of chief operating officer, he said. The outgoing COO, Walt Ekard, and his replacement, Scott Chadwick, both had a hand in developing a new organizational chart, he said.

Gloria said the organization became very "flat" when middle management positions were cut during lean budget years. The resulting vulnerabilities were exposed by the troubled nine months of ex-Mayor Bob Filner, who stepped down under fire Aug. 30.

"I think in order to be more transparent, more effective, (the city should) distribute those responsibilities in a more thoughtful way where we might have deputy chief operating officers who can help to run the organization," Gloria said.

All the city's department directors currently report to the COO, and "it's a bit optimistic" to think that one person can provide the necessary level of oversight to the various municipal functions, he said.

The new organization will give the city "more cohesive business units" that the interim mayor hopes will provide more accountability and improve services.

Gloria also needs to fill several important management positions that were left open when senior executives resigned as the Filner administration crumbled.

The city needs a new chief financial officer, director of the Development Services Department, a Neighborhood Code Compliance director and someone to head the Commission on Arts and Culture, among others, according to Gloria.

Last week, he hired Holla Razak of the San Diego County Water Authority to be Director of Public Utilities.

-City News Service