88 replies to this topic

[Robert Giacometti]

And as far as the City of Folsom specifically, I do believe we get what we pay for - Martha was a top-notch manager and we paid for it. And I hope we continue to recruit top-notch individuals and pay them for the c**p they have to put up with in those political, high-visibility jobs.
[/quote]

Interesting comments about recruiting top-notch individuals.

My concern and issue was there was NO recruitment when the change ( some say coup) of City Manager Mike Frost, being bought out of his contract and Assistant Manager, Doug Udell, getting terminated/asked to resign. The City of Folsom spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to buy these 2 people out of the way. Martha, City Attorney, at that time was hired despite having NO experience as a City Manager and at that time was the HIGHEST paid City Manager in the region despite NO experience.

Unfortunately, this process may have hurt Martha's credibility with some of her senior and seasoned staff and may be a contributing factor into why some of the managers and others have left.

Its almost impossible to ask questions about a process and not have someone take those questions personally. Its also difficult to ask objective questions about someone's preformance and not make it seem as though one has a personal agenda against someone. I have no personal axes to grind with Martha, but have had questions about issues.

I have consistently asked, Who is/was responsible for ensuring that we were meeting the requirements of affordable housing? I'm always told no one did anything wrong... yet we were sued and paid dearly for not meeting these requirements. We will never know how much this cost the citizens of Folsom both directly and indirectly! Doug Udell, used to say, " Not only did we give away the Farm, but we paid the closing costs too!" The reason why I include this here is Martha was City Attorney when the Developer Agreements ( DA's)were renegiotated and then City Manager when the Affordable Housing lawsuit was in play. My impression of Martha based upon my interaction with her is that she is very thorough and prepared, therefore its my belief if the DA's were not in compliance with Affordable Housing, she would have raised that issue. I suspect that the council didn't have the political will to force development community to address this issue proactively when we had the opportunity. When Martha leaves the city we will never know what really happened and who dropped the ball that cost us so much!

Had I been elected to the City Council... I would have most definitely found the answer to that question!

I too share some of your concerns about the rising salary levels and benefits for those in the public sector. Two words of concern "San Diego". By the time those issues are fully visible for all to see, its too late!

If Martha wants to take time to spend with her daughters, I want to wish her the best of luck.

[old soldier]

from what I saw she was a nice lady and had a way to talking to folks to make them work together...I always sort of worry though when attorney folks resign. I can remember during the nixon days attorney generals and special prosecutors were resigning all over the place cause they were being asked to do things they felt violated the attorney code..


you have to wonder what is going on to make the former city attorney and now the city manager, another attorney look for greener pastures, but then maybe the old soldier watches too much tv

the old spend time with the family story seems to be a nice thing to say...sort of like in bambi when flower told thumper if he didn't have anything nice to say be quiet.

I guess the proof to the old pudding will be to see what kind of big job she lands down the line...I just hope she doesn't end up working for some developer.

things are kind of quiet on the south of 50 front, but thars gold in those old pastures....but no water darn it.


trying to figure out folsom government is a real who dune it....seems like some one on this forum said old starsky was saying bad things a while back about her and now he is saying she is the most wonderful person around.

[bobb]

Why is the City Manager Leaving?

Why did the Personnel Director Leave, City Attorney, Planning Director, Park & Rec Direcotr, Lighting Supervisor, Assistanc City Manger, City Clerk, Etc.

Old Starsky?

If you don't like the environment...go where you do.

Also, it saves the City $'s if you can get people to leave before they retiree and cost the city.

-bobb

[econ101]

I see that Martha Lofgren resigned last night. It seems sudden, and she says she only started mentioning that to council members this past week. Does anyone know why?

So has anyone been able to find out what's really going on at City Hall? It seems to me that the City is going through a lot of personnel changes right now. Is it just a blip in time, or is the council calling the shots?

[Steve]

... I suspect that the council didn't have the political will to force development community to address this issue proactively when we had the opportunity. When Martha leaves the city we will never know what really happened and who dropped the ball that cost us so much!

I tend to agree with you. I have always held certain members of past and current City Councils responsible for the Affordable Housing lawsuit; especially Holderness and Miklos who were members of the City Council and were Mayors during many of the years that Folsom was violating State Law. What's the old saying .. "The buck stops here"!! Nothing would be more pleasing to me than to see at least these two held responsible and accountable for the legal and settlement costs to those of us who are taxpayers in this City.

[valdossjoyce]

The sequence of announcements as well as the announcements themselves are curious. Would someone who knows explain the logic?

First, we're told Martha is resigning. Next, we hear the Chief of Police will be filling on an interim basis, an Asst. City Manager position that's been vacant for a very long time (the one held by Will Kempton before Arnold picked him to head-up Caltrans). Now we're told the one remaining Asst. City Manager has left and they will not be filling that position.

Many of us always thought having two Assistant City Managers was top-heavy management.
Maybe the moral here is that all good things come to those who wait. Good luck to Martha in her future endeavors. Wherever she ends us can't be half as puzzling as our city hall.

[camay2327]

Members of the Folsom City Council monitor these pages but don't expect any of them to answer up here.

The only one that might would be Kerri.... ????

[folsom500]

Members of the Folsom City Council monitor these pages but don't expect any of them to answer up here.

The only one that might would be Kerri.... ????

Why is that ? Afraid to answer questions or offer input to their public ??? Hmmmm..

[ducky]

Why is that ? Afraid to answer questions or offer input to their public ??? Hmmmm..

Could be they don't want their opinions nailed down in writing. Always appreciate Kerri's candor.

[Kerri Howell]

As I have said before, on this forum and elsewhere, if you really want to know my opinion, all you have to do is ask me. You can do that by phone, in person or by email. That would of course require that the inquirer identify themself. More often than not, I have no choice but to assume that getting the real answer is far less interesting than much of the speculation and wrong information that gets posted here. Having the correct information just isn't any fun.

Martha's decision to leave the City is her choice. She is an attorney by training, and she is simply tired, wants to spend more time with her family and explore other career opportunities. Managing the City of Folsom is, more often than not, about an 80 hour a week job. She is leaving the City on a good note, in good financial shape and has been a great City Manager for Folsom. She is well respected by City Staff and in the region (which is important for the City in many ways) and I wish her well in her new endeavors. For the sake of the City, I am very sorry to see her go. From a professional standpoint, I can understand why she believes this is best for her. On a personal level, I have a huge amount of respect for her, I expect to continue our personal friendship for many years to come and will continue to seek her guidance and advice long after she is gone from City Hall.

To correct some of the inaccurate information, she is not now, nor was she when she was hired, the highest paid Manager in the region. Please also keep in mind that the City of Folsom has always been completely forthcoming about Martha's total compensation package - that can not be said for all of the other jurisdictions in the region. We do not currently have 2 Assistant City Managers - in fact we have a police chief as an ACTING City Manager, with the recent departure of Mr. Estep. We have had only one assistant City Manager for nearly 2 years, since Will Kempton left the City to be the Director of Caltrans. For anybody who wanted to know why Doug Udell resigned, I am afraid you have missed your chance to ask him. If anybody wants to hear the Mike Frost story, feel free to try to reach him. I believe he is in Virginia.

Feel free to contact me anytime you like. As Cal will confirm, I am very good about responding to emails and phone calls.

Kerri Howell

[tgianco]

We do not currently have 2 Assistant City Managers - in fact we have a police chief as an ACTING City Manager, with the recent departure of Mr. Estep.

Kerri,

Just curious. How was it determined to have the police chief serve as Interim (hopefully) City Manager. That's a pretty big responsibility.

I appreciate him stepping forward in an unpaid capacity (so it was reported), but is he qualified? What is being done to find a permanent replacement and what are the desired traits of the City Manager? Lawyer? Accountant? Any other type of background?

Any anwers you can provide would be appreciated and also give us a better understanding of how the city is run.

[Robert Giacometti]

As I have said before, on this forum and elsewhere, if you really want to know my opinion, all you have to do is ask me. You can do that by phone, in person or by email. That would of course require that the inquirer identify themself. More often than not, I have no choice but to assume that getting the real answer is far less interesting than much of the speculation and wrong information that gets posted here. Having the correct information just isn't any fun.

Martha's decision to leave the City is her choice. She is an attorney by training, and she is simply tired, wants to spend more time with her family and explore other career opportunities. Managing the City of Folsom is, more often than not, about an 80 hour a week job. She is leaving the City on a good note, in good financial shape and has been a great City Manager for Folsom. She is well respected by City Staff and in the region (which is important for the City in many ways) and I wish her well in her new endeavors. For the sake of the City, I am very sorry to see her go. From a professional standpoint, I can understand why she believes this is best for her. On a personal level, I have a huge amount of respect for her, I expect to continue our personal friendship for many years to come and will continue to seek her guidance and advice long after she is gone from City Hall.

To correct some of the inaccurate information, she is not now, nor was she when she was hired, the highest paid Manager in the region. Please also keep in mind that the City of Folsom has always been completely forthcoming about Martha's total compensation package - that can not be said for all of the other jurisdictions in the region. We do not currently have 2 Assistant City Managers - in fact we have a police chief as an ACTING City Manager, with the recent departure of Mr. Estep. We have had only one assistant City Manager for nearly 2 years, since Will Kempton left the City to be the Director of Caltrans. For anybody who wanted to know why Doug Udell resigned, I am afraid you have missed your chance to ask him. If anybody wants to hear the Mike Frost story, feel free to try to reach him. I believe he is in Virginia.

Feel free to contact me anytime you like. As Cal will confirm, I am very good about responding to emails and phone calls.

Kerri Howell

Kerri,

I too will confirm that you are very good about taking phone calls and returning calls. I'd like to think I have an understanding of the time that you and your colleagues spend as council members responding to all sorts of issues, let alone responding to every question on myfolsom.com. I have consistently expressed my appreciation towards all of you for your willinginess to serve....even when we may disagree on issues.

However, this doesn't give you or any of your colleagues a free pass on spinning information to fit your agenda!

Wasn't Doug Udell asked to resign? Then wasn't he "escorted" out of the building within 20 minutes? I 'll leave it up too the rest of the readers on the forum to decide for themselves if he was fired or resigned.

The information about Martha's salary along with other City Managers, when she was first hired was published in the Bee. Isn't it true that other Cities complained that we were paying our City Manager more than theirs even though ours had no experience...that this was going to cause artificial inflation of this positions salary? Yet, you claim they, the other Cities were "not as forthright" as Folsom. PLEASE!!!

Here is your chance to be forthright about an issue that has cost Folsom millions. Were you aware that Folsom was NOT in compliance with the Affordable Housing componet regarding development? If NOT, why NOT? Who would be responsible for ensuring we were in compliance with the legalities of affordable housing?

Thanks in advance for your response and your time.

I too want to wish Martha the best in her future endeavors.

Robert

[FDNY343]

Once again, Mr. Giacometti on his soap box.... long on wind, short on substance.

[old soldier]

hey old fdny343, it looked like robert just had some quesions for fiesty kerri and she will be back big time and just maybee things will get exciting for awhile on this forum.

I just can't see why all these folks are leaving and when Kerri said old Martha left in good finincial shape that sounds to me like one ot those golden parachutes.

the old coucil boys won't screw around with Chief Sam that for sure, but thats a lot of work to be city manager and chief at the same time but then again the council may think its just like in school when the teacher is real busy, thats the time to pull some tricks.

it will be real inteeesting to see if they go out and find one of the professional city managers like they got in elk grove and rancho cause a real pro might just come in, take a look at things and say "what in heck's been going on around here"

[econ101]

As a 12 year resident of this town, I have grown sick and tired of watching this city council be run by developers and special interest groups. From their collective inability to manage growth, take care of affordable housing mandates, ignore the wishes of the public on water meters or provide essential services like adequate roads and utilities. Traffic is a mess and they do not seem to be bothered by it. This council does not seem to represent the views of the Folsom citizenry. I don’t trust the majority of them. Kerri Howell and Eric King seem to be good people but the others need to go.