Ahem...Correction
Jeannete Sherwin
In the giddiness that surrounded the Big Axe falling, my two sources apparently fell on their heads and scrambled their brains.
Assistant City Manager George Musgrove was _not_ fired. We regret the error. However, sources throughout City Hall expect that Musgrove will leave on disability retirement in the very near future.
The excellent Deborah Edgerley, Director of the Financial Services division, will become Interim City Manager as soon as Robert Bobb clears out. I like Deborah a lot -- a true straight-shooter. A few years ago, on her own time, she produced a wonderful booklet called "A Citizen's Guide to the Budget." Isn't that the sort of thing you'd like to see from your city staff in every department?
For those of you who caught Harry Edwards on television on Tuesday night and can't quite place him, try this: He's almost a dead-ringer for Cletus in "The Nutty Professor." Remember? Cletus was the father who was always angry and full of hot air.
If you're on the OaklandNews email list, you might want to watch SoulBeat tonight at 9PM to see what Desley Brooks (District Six) says about Robert Bobb's firing.
Deborah Edgerly interim operating officer? Wow! Deborah is hard working and honest. She sure has come along way from Dolores' budget babe.
By the way, let's call this job what it is - it is not city manager. It is a chief operating officer, executive administrator....or something like that..... We no longer have the council-manager form of government (someone should tell the Council).
Posted by: Leila Gough on July 2, 2003 09:17 PMLeila is absolutely right about both the title problem and the excellence of Deborah
Edgerly.
Readers?? Any ideas for what the new Not City Manager should be called after Deborah
is replaced (which is what Jerry promises to do)?
Chief Whipping Boy (or Girl)?
Major Flunky?
Eyes Wide Shut Chief Executive?
Who do you think should head Parks and Rec when Harry Edwards finally leaves? My vote is for
the excellent Jim Ryugo, who is in charge of the Recreation division. He's been here for
years, would represent a huge morale boost for people in that department, is totally honest and
bursting with integrity. Ryugo will _not_ speak off-the-record, or not for attribution. That's
might fine.
It seems to me that the real story you should be chasing down is this: why did Edwards and Bob Bobb leave the employ of the City of Oakland on the same day? The back story on that is the proverbial "other shoe" waiting to be dropped, wouldn’t you agree?
My question to you: Have any of your sources at Parks and Rec shared with you how many hours per week Edwards was physically in his office in a typical week? If they are reluctant and you need to pull a "Deep Throat" maneuver, you could always ask: "If you can count the number of hours Edwards clocked in on his OPR job per week on the fingers of two hands.....how many fingers would be left over?"
The Chron said that Edwards needed to retire due to "pension issues" with U.C. Berkeley. Well. I guess that's one way to put it.
Second question: Did Edwards teach any classes and/or post office hours for U.C. students during his 3 year tenure here at Oakland working full time (for over 200 grand)? We know he says he wasn’t teaching classes... but has anybody had the journalistic cajones to actually to drive over to Berkeley and check?
Jack Epstein
Posted by: Jack Epstein on July 3, 2003 01:28 AMDear Jack,
Thanks for writing. I assume you have now seen all the denials by everybody that Harry's attempted resignation on the same day as Robert's firing was
our pitiful bad luck. I say that because Jerry is crazy about Harry, and if Harry had resigned a week earlier we might actually be rid of him. Instead Harry whined that he "wasn't invited to those meetings" -- where Robert Bobb's dismissal was discussed.
The rest of your comments deserve a look. We're on it.
This has nothing to do with the article about Harry Edwards. However, I would like to know, on my mom's behalf how to get a hold of Harry Edwards. She has some pictures of him, from the 60's. These picture were taken by my deceased brother. She believes he would really enjoy the work my brother did with said pictures. You can email me with any information, and I will pass it on to my mom. Thanks
Posted by: Kerry Ann on July 6, 2003 07:56 PMi think jake is right jake e-mail me to dicuss these and others thanxs
Posted by: Dani on August 25, 2003 10:50 AM*This discussion has been closed. No more comments may be added.*