Track record continues

Many Chicoans likely reacted emotionally to the recent announcement that City Manager Brian Nakamura had resigned from his post. Understandably so. After Nakamura oversaw sweeping changes to the city’s organizational structure—including mass layoffs of city employees, many of them longtime staffers—his sudden departure after less than two years on the job feels like a hit-and-run.

But it’s not entirely unexpected. Nakamura’s job history certainly indicated that he wouldn’t stick around for long. In the past 21 years, he has held 10 jobs, including stints as city manager in Reedley, Banning and Hemet. But Nakamura tried to convince us otherwise, telling the CN&R last year that he hoped to stay in Chico “for a very long time. I love the community. We have a lot of opportunity and a lot of potential here.”

He said something similar in 2012, just before he bailed on Hemet. When the Press-Enterprise newspaper got word that Nakamura was planning on taking the city manager position in Chico, he told that paper: “My commitment is 110 percent here. My focus is to continue to serve Hemet to the best of my ability. I’m committed to Hemet.”

Both cities—and papers—were misled.

In Chico’s case, Nakamura never seemed to connect to the community. That could be because living here turned out to be tougher than he expected. He was, after all, widely perceived as a hatchet man, and took a good amount of flak for it. He also didn’t maintain open lines of communication within the organization—many of those laid-off employees felt blindsided—and by most accounts, morale within the city has been in the pits since the cuts.

What’s the take-away here, especially for the council? Finding the right person to lead the city ought to be paramount. Nakamura may have had the strength to balance the city’s books, but he wasn’t a leader. He leaves behind a fractured organization.

So, as the search begins for Chico’s next city manager, we implore the council to hire someone who cares about the organization, its employees, and the community in general. A good barometer would be someone who has a track record of dedication to a city organization. The last thing Chico needs is another fly-by-night city manager.