In a press release from the City of Woodland, it states Mr. Navazio comes to the city with 20 years of experience in municipal government. He is currently the Assistant City Manager for the City of Davis, California, where he has direct responsibility for Budget, Finance and Information Technology Services, in addition to assisting with all city departments, initiatives and projects.
Vice Mayor Skip Davies said “I believe Paul’s familiarity with the City of Woodland, his strategic financial thinking, familiarity with the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency and his dedication to public service makes him a great hire for our City.”
In response to the news of the appointment, Mr. Navazio said, “I am honored to have been selected by the Woodland City Council, and am excited at the opportunity to help guide the organization during a time of unprecedented challenges.”
He added, ” Over the past several years I have gained a tremendous amount respect for the Woodland City Council and staff, and I am looking forward to this opportunity to serve as Woodland’s City Manager.”
Mr. Navazio had apparently applied to the Davis City Manager position full time but was passed over for current City Manager Steve Pinkerton.
Paul Navazio will take over as Woodland City Manager, effective April 23.
In a letter to Davis City Manager Steve Pinkerton, he indicated that his last date of employment with the City of Davis will be Friday, April 20.
He writes, “It is with mixed feelings that I and my family have made this decision, but I do so with the firm belief that my new position will provide me with the unique opportunity to serve as a City Manager, and will allow me to further my personal and professional goals.”
He adds, “I have greatly enjoyed the short time in which we have worked together, and I look forward to continuing to work with you as managers of neighboring cities, working collaboratively on projects of mutual benefit to the two communities and the region.”
“Not only has my experience working for the City of Davis been extremely enjoyable and rewarding, but I can say with all honesty that I would not be in a position to take advantage of this new opportunity without the benefit of the experience I have gained here in Davis, and the confidence and trust that the City Council and staff have placed in me over the course of my tenure with the City.”
Mr. Navazio has also served as the Budget Manager for the City of Berkeley, California, and Budget Manager for the City of Oakland, California.
Mr. Navazio was selected by the Woodland City Council from a pool of more than 90 candidates, in a nationwide executive search.
Mr. Navazio holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and Public Policy from the University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York.
Reaction has been a little mixed to his hiring, as Supervisor Matt Rexroad, himself a former Mayor of Woodland, indicated on Facebook, “I did not see this one coming. We should have picked Ron Swanson.”
Others thought it was a strong pick and would ease the way for Davis and Woodland to work together on water and other projects.
Vanguard Commentary
The Vanguard has always had a mixed view of Mr. Navazio. At one point, the Vanguard advocated for his resignation, and had also thought Davis should hire from outside to fill its city manager vacancy, which opened in the fall of 2010.
In particular, the Vanguard was frustrated last spring with the budget that Mr. Navazio came forward with, that failed to take into account things such as infrastructure needs, roads, pensions and unfunded liability.
The Vanguard was irritated by the fact that, despite the acknowledgement that the budget did not take into account these changes and assumed flat compensation for employees, the budget projected a positive balance.
In previous years, Mr. Navazio overestimated revenues, even after Councilmember Lamar Heystek came forward himself with an alternative budget that proved to have much more realistic assumptions.
On the one hand, the Vanguard firmly believes that the City of Davis needed fresh eyes to look at critical issues such as the budget and re-organization.
On the other hand, the Vanguard believes that Mr. Navazio is an extremely bright and insightful man, who would be a critical asset to Woodland as they embark on their journey to fiscal stability.
In that sense, he will be their outside eyes, and we believe that he is much better suited for the more collegial Woodland.
Mr. Navazio’s voice is one of collaboration rather than confrontation. And he is probably the perfect person to heal possibly wounded feelings on the Woodland-Davis water project, as he will be able to understand the collaborative project from both ends.
Of course there are those in this city who oppose this project, but if the project goes forward, it will be a more smooth collaboration with Mr. Navazio in Woodland.
In short, while many are surprised by this move, from Mr. Navazio’s perspective it is the perfect move that allows his career to advance, while keeping his family intact and in place in Davis schools.
Now, the new Davis City Manager has the further opportunity to etch his own legacy. Davis loses critical institutional memory, but also potential institutional resistance to change. It is an opportunity, going forward, for Davis as well, as we embark on a critical period of change.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
I wish Paul Navazio the best of luck in Woodland. From an article in the Daily Democrat, it appears he will have his work cut out for him, as Woodland seems to be headed for deep fiscal trouble. My hope is that Paul can assist Woodland with its severe financial difficulties. It won’t be an easy task…
Could not find the link to the article – perhaps someone else can:
[quote]Report: Woodland could be broke by 2015
By GEOFF JOHNSON / Daily Democrat
Created: 01/12/2012 12:30:53 AM PST
[/quote]
Echoing Elaine’s sentiment, thanks to Paul for all your work for Davis, and best of luck in your new position!
No one is perfect, and Paul isn’t the exception to that rule, but on balance I have liked Paul’s work a whole lot more than I have disliked it. Actually, disliked hasn’t even come into the equation, because when I’ve felt the need to pause about an issue, it has almost always been because I personally wanted more information [u]not[/u] that the information provided was wrong. There are always going to be times when a decision has to be made to “go” with the information in hand rather than “wait” to produce more information.
I wish Paul great success in Woodland. If he succeeds there, Davis will benefit.
First, I must say I very much like Paul and appreciate all of the hard work he has done for the City of Davis. He is an extraordinarily competent person and a nice man and I should add that every time I met with him I was always impressed at how well prepared he was.
Also, Paul has been of great help to me many times when researching a column. He would give me a lot of data and often would point me to other sources which I had not considered. A recent example of this is when I wrote this column about the changes in assumed rate of return at CalPERS ([url]http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/opinion-columns/calpers-change-would-dramatically-damage-davis/[/url]), Paul pointed me to the PERS agenda and which documents I should read to understand [i]why[/i] the PERS actuary was recommending what he was. Up to that point, I (wrongly) had assumed that the reason was something other than what it was, and by reading what Paul told me to read, I ended up understanding the justification for the decision, and (in my opinion) it made my column far better.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KPoGmxI7E68/TnjgA8fplWI/AAAAAAAAAf8/67YHPDVZcUo/s1600/navazio.bmp[/img]
The second thing which should be said about Paul leaving his job for the City of Davis is that [i]this creates a small opportunity[/i]. In my opinion, the top leadership posts in the City Manager’s office are overcrowded. We have the City Manager, the Assistant City Manager, and two Deputy City Managers, as well as various technical positions (e.g., City Clerk, Human Resources Director, etc.).
My thinking is that, at the very least, we don’t need [b]two[/b] Deputy City Managers. If Steve Pinkerton asked me for advice on this, I would promote the better of his two Deputy CM’s to the position of Asst. CM and leave one of the DCM jobs permanently unfilled. Doing so (by shedding that salary, pension costs, medical and various other expenses) would save the City about $185,000 per year. We would save even more if we simply left the Asst. CM job unfilled and had his ACM duties performed by one or the other of the DCMs. However, I think that might be harder to pull off from a practical standpoint.
[quote]I wish Paul great success in Woodland. If he succeeds there, Davis will benefit.[/quote]
EXCELLENT POINT!!!
@ Rifkin… what would you do, in light of your suggestion, with the Finance Director position? Paul wore TWO hats?
HP, good point. I imagine that Paul’s chief assistant will take that position. I don’t have any advice along those lines for Mr. Pinkerton, who will make the decision. My only reason to comment on getting rid of one of the two deputy city manager jobs is because, over the last 7-8 years, we went from one city manager and no deputies and no asst. cm, to having all four, all highly paid positions filled. In lean times, I would hope the city could get away with fewer top admins.
I am very disappointed that Paul Navizio is leaving the city of Davis management team. I have dealt with many City administrators over many years, and have asked some tough questions. Most administrators hemmed & hawed, couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give me a straight answer, and typically referred me to someone down the “totem pole,” who said “I don’t know.”
But Paul always answered my questions in an honest, forthcoming manner. If he didn’t know the answer immediately, he said he would look into it and get back to me. And he always did.
I believe it is disgraceful that the City Council by-passed Paul for the City manager position and hired an out-of-town administrator who has absolutely no prior experience in dealing with Davis fiscal issues.
Letting Paul go to Woodland is a HUGE loss for the City of Davis, and a great coup for Woodland. And, all of you who seem so happy to see Paul leave, let’s just see what you think of our new City manager in two years.
To repeat: A HUGE loss for Davis, and a huge win for Woodland.
In my opinion, Woodland has gained a great administrator who will work very hard to right a faltering ship, and Davis will be stuck with a City manager who is in so far over his head that he will sink or bale!
A great win for Woodland. Good luck, Paul!
[quote]To repeat: A HUGE loss for Davis, and a huge win for Woodland.
In my opinion, Woodland has gained a great administrator who will work very hard to right a faltering ship, [/quote]
If Paul can right the Woodland ship, it would be to Davis’ benefit, no?
This is an excellent opportunity for Steve Pinkerton to advocate for and perhaps get a Finance Director that is like minded and on the same page and play book.
This would give Mr. Pinkerton a chance to implement the changes and programs with a new team member who has no history with previous Davis budget decisions. An outside hire will not be defensive about past decisions, mistakes and therefore less resistant to instituting staff realignments and necessary fiscal restraint. A search for outside talent to come in and help make the changes necessary from the old Bill Emlen regime is paramount.
Otherwise, you are not giving Mr. Pinkerton a fair opportunity to perform to the level he is expected to.