As the former City of Oceanside City Treasurer, I’m very perplexed and alarmed that both the proponents and the opponents of Measure K completely avoid (or aren’t aware of) the fundamental point that if Measure K passes, the stand-alone position of City Treasurer in the City of Oceanside will be eliminated and its duties will be consolidated into the portfolio of the existing Financial Services Director position.
I strongly urge a No vote on Measure K—it is not the solution to any of the problems we currently are facing related to competence and qualifications, accountability or the independence of the City Treasurer or City Clerk in Oceanside.
The solution for our future is adopting supplementary minimum qualifications to run and serve as our City Treasurer and as our City Clerk. Carlsbad does this and it works. Are Carlsbad’s citizens better or smarter than Oceanside’s citizens? Of course not. I believe we must vote No on Measure K and then we must adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run and serve (actually, that is the measure that should have been brought to the ballot, not the appoint-versus-elect measure). More than any other living person here in Oceanside right now, I possess unique perspective and understanding concerning this issue as it relates to the City Treasurer position, because I served as our City Treasurer for two full years (longer than any other living person) and I provided necessary independent oversight daily during that entire two-year period. If anyone honestly believes that the City Treasurer does not, cannot or should not provide independent oversight, then she or he clearly is not aware of or does not understand what the City Treasurer does (or should be doing).
All City of Oceanside staff directors in one way or another serve at the pleasure of the City Manager, the City Attorney and/or a majority of City Council members. Therefore, none are independent. The Financial Services Director, who would assume the duties of the City Treasurer if Measure K were to pass, is not independent. The staff members who wrote the report upon which Measure K is based are/were beholden to the City Manager in some way or another. They produced the report and measure they were directed to produce.
Measure K is overly simplistic, it conflates positions (the City Treasurer and City Clerk positions are distinguishable and should be examined separately) and duties that should not be conflated and it’s downright insidious. Measure K omits options and inaccurately frames the issue.
While I and others have argued that the current City Treasurer is not appropriately qualified to serve in the important independent oversight office he holds, that doesn’t mean we need to throw the baby out with the bath water! The Measure K argument is akin to converting the position of U.S. President from elected to appointed because the current U.S. President is not appropriately qualified to serve. Our current U.S. President is transitory and so is our current City Treasurer. Measure K is not a solution to the problem we currently are facing. Adopting supplementary minimum qualifications is the solution. Changing the City Treasurer position to appointed from elected would be a monumental mistake that would adversely impact the City of Oceanside and independent oversight for the rest of time.
There are 482 municipalities in California, 122 (25 percent) of which are charter cities (like the City of Oceanside). Of the 482 municipalities, 153 (32 percent) elect the City Treasurer. There are 18 cities in San Diego County, nine of which are general law cities and nine of which are charter cities. In San Diego County, only two charter cities elect the City Treasurer: the City of Oceanside and the City of Carlsbad.
While charter cities, like the City of Oceanside and the City of Carlsbad, can require minimum qualifications beyond those established in California Government Code Section 36502, general law cities cannot.
Codified in its Municipal Code, under Section 2.08.022, entitled “Qualifications of city treasurer,” the City of Carlsbad has established qualifications to run for and serve as its City Treasurer above and beyond those listed in Government Code Section 36502. The referenced section of Carlsbad’s Municipal Code states “No person is eligible to become a candidate for the office of city treasurer unless, at the time of the final filing date for election, such person has a four-year college degree in finance or business-related field and four years of financial work experience. (Ord. CS-080 § 1, 2010)”
The City of Oceanside has created a City Treasurer position description that is more comprehensive than the qualifications requirements the City of Carlsbad has codified. To date, this position description and its incorporated minimum qualifications for City Treasurer service have not been adopted by the City Council, or in any other way codified.
A March 27, 2019 City of Oceanside Staff Report (entitled “Consideration to Convert the Positions of City Clerk and City Treasurer from Elected to Appointed”) did not include any reference to or discussion of the recommendation that the City Council adopt and seek appropriate approvals of supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer.
Concerning the position of City Treasurer, I believe a third option (beyond whether the position should be elected or appointed) not only is available, but it is a desirable and necessary course of action to pursue. That option is to adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer and maintain the position as an independently elected overseer and steward of public funds.
Over time, my opinion concerning whether our City Treasurer should be appointed or elected evolved. When I applied to serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer in late 2016, I believed the position should be appointed. Very early on during my two-year tenure as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer, based on my day-to-day, hands-on experience in the position, by March of 2017, I shifted from believing the City Treasurer should be appointed and she or he should be required to possess an array of position-appropriate minimum qualifications, to believing the City Treasurer should remain an elected position, for critical independent oversight reasons.
The positions of City Clerk and City Treasurer are distinguishable.
Because the City Clerk performs important ministerial duties and the position requires the position holder to possess a significant level of position-appropriate knowledge and expertise, the position of City Clerk will continue to exist as a stand-alone position in Oceanside, even if Measure K passes. However, if Measure K passes, the stand-alone position of City Treasurer in the City of Oceanside will be eliminated and its duties will be consolidated into the portfolio of the existing Financial Services Director position.
Because the City Treasurer performs duties that require the position holder to possess a significant level of position-appropriate knowledge and expertise and the position holder provides critically important independent oversight that an appointed staff member cannot and would not have the agency to perform, I strongly maintain the position of City of Oceanside City Treasurer should remain an elected position. Further, a City Treasurer cannot perform her or his critically important independent oversight duties unless she or he possesses a significant level of position-appropriate knowledge and expertise. A stand-alone, appointed City Treasurer, or another staff member into whose existing position portfolio City Treasurer duties could be included, would not and could not have the agency or the independence to provide the critical day-to-day oversight an appropriately qualified, elected City Treasurer is duty-bound to provide.
Having served as City Treasurer for two full years and providing independent oversight daily during my two-year tenure, it’s very clear to me that our City Treasurer must possess a series of position-appropriate minimum academic and experience qualifications similar to those adopted by the City of Carlsbad, otherwise she or he cannot possess the knowledge and understanding necessary to provide independent oversight.
California Government Code Section 36502 does not restrict the ability of a charter city to require supplementary minimum qualifications for service as City Treasurer. However, for the City of Oceanside to create, adopt and enforce supplementary minimum qualifications for City Treasurer service, it is possible that a charter amendment would be required. If a charter amendment is required, it would need to be approved by Oceanside’s citizens during an election. Absent a contrary determination by the City of Oceanside’s City Attorney, as long as proper public notice is given, I posit the City of Oceanside City Council has the authority to vote at any time to adopt and implement supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer.
The City of Oceanside’s Citizen Investment Oversight Committee (CIOC) met on November 13, 2018 and embraced the then City Treasurer’s recommendation to adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as City Treasurer. With the caveat that the statement adopted by the City of Carlsbad requiring “four years of financial work experience” should be refined for the City of Oceanside’s purposes to potentially require “at least four years of advanced-level, supervisory financial work experience,” the members of the CIOC unanimously approved the then City Treasurer’s recommendation to adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer. The CIOC’s unanimous approval was documented in its February 12, 2019 CIOC meeting packet. The November 13, 2018 CIOC Meeting Minutes were unanimously approved during the CIOC’s February 12, 2019 meeting. This recommendation was submitted at least twice to the City of Oceanside’s City Council.
To date, it is my understanding that no analysis by the City of Oceanside’s City Attorney has been conducted to determine if adopting supplementary qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer would require a charter amendment or not, whether a vote of the citizens would be required or not, or whether a majority of the members of the City Council could simply vote to adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer. It also is my understanding that the City of Carlsbad adopted supplementary minimum qualifications for its citizens to be able to run for and serve as the City of Carlsbad’s City Treasurer as a result of a majority vote of the members of its City Council. It further is my understanding that the City of Carlsbad did not place the issue on a ballot to seek voter approval of either a charter amendment or adopting supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Carlsbad’s City Treasurer.
Please vote No on Measure K, then adopt supplementary minimum qualifications to run for and serve as the City of Oceanside’s City Treasurer.
Dr. Rafe Edward Trickey, Jr.
Editors Note- Letters are posted in the order they are received