BREAKING NEWS: City Hall Shakeup?
The LA Times is reporting that City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson is leaving her post to take a position at Pomona College. Replacing her is Marcus Allen, yes, that Marcus Allen.
We've also picked up on some chatter - unconfirmed - that Chief of Staff Robin Kramer is leaving as well. No other details.
Developing - stay tuned as we dig more.
We've also picked up on some chatter - unconfirmed - that Chief of Staff Robin Kramer is leaving as well. No other details.
Developing - stay tuned as we dig more.
Labels: karen sisson, marcus allen, robin kramer
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 3/25/2008 05:22:00 PM
21 Comments:
House cleaning or ship jumping??
...or shark jumping...
Red spot always asks the important questions.
Alvin Blaine is leaving GSD as of 4-1-08. Tony Royster is acting GM.
If anyone cares.
Mayor Sams ... where the banner headline "BREAKING NEWS" really means, "here's something we just found out about, but that most people with any connections downtown knew long ago."
Marcus Allen, one of my hero's at USC and the Raiders! Smart, shrewd move by AV and Co., and along with Magic Johnson will shore up huge support in the African American community's.
WHen is AV going to jump the sinking Clinton ship and hook up with the Obama camp?
Don Quixote quit being such a shameless hypocrite. We know you call blacks changos(monkeys) and mayates. Your are just a vile racist xenophobe. Go back to your gang blog where you tell stories about how blacks are lazy and condescending. Remember those stories, com on u member!
Why do you avoid/hide from your previous comments? Or are you going to tell us the other Don Q and Santiago and Drinking with Tony are not you? No seas tan pendejo.
Come on Don Quixote, I hope that you're kidding with the joke! It was a little funny though.
To contribute to Mayor Sam's "unconfirmed" rumor of Chief of Staff Robin Kramer leaving, the word is on the 2nd floor coffee shop that she's staying on board until Villaraigosa gets re-elected, then she'll ride into the sunset (probably head back to the Broad Foundation). I guess she had enough drama these last 2 1/2 years to remind her of why she left City Hall the last time.
You wish Hillary's ship was sinking.
She's been yanked around like a yo-yo. It was painful to see Parks leading her by the nose to "agree" that it was "illegal" to designate the trash tax fee increase to cops, instead of to the general fund, in that battle against the Mayor and pro-police forces a few months ago.
She seems like an ethical person who's torn between too many factions, way beyond her capacity as a glorified bookkeeper. Her new job will be a vacation by comparison.
I don't know how much technical skill this Marcus Allen has, but the job has become a political one, and he's at least prepared for that.
I guess the mayor thinks he has enough friends and family to manage the city. He has a circle of compadres calling shots around city hall. Alvin Blain probably didn't want to be handled like a puppet. Face it...there is so much as kissing to the mayor and compadres that they will do just about anything so they don't lose their jobs. Remember, GM's are at will. So they must jump, move, or do what ever necessary to keep the Mayor and his compadres happy. If not it's the ax. When the mayor and compadres are gone the truth will be revealed. Does anyone know a good publisher?
Marcus Allen knows how to play politics well. He was also Chick's right hand man not too long ago.
This is going to be an interesting dynamic because of relationships established long ago.
Stay tunes for chapter 29.....
Kramer is not taking calls.
I work at DWP and have heard this.
Allen's weak point is his inability to understand how to deal with people, especially in a political environment. As a CLA analyst he had little public contact. As the Controller's chief of staff, again little contact. Same with MAV's office. He was always an inside kind of analyst guy, but not someone you'd want dealing with elected officials, talking to the public, or being involved in much human interaction.
Look at all the incompetent morons Antonio has brought into city hall. The Muslim who is running Homeland Security, Relatives on all commission boards, an inexperienced Gang Czar who doesn't know where the gangs in LA are, all his top staff are political paybacks, and the list goes on. Unlike the national media when will the local media finally report the facts to the people???? No reporters in this town who can be man enough to do it.
12:03 am -
Allen's lack of knowing how to work within the political scene is why Villaraigosa has Jimmy Blackman. Allen would deal with the day to day activities of the Mayor's office that dealt with the City's departments, while Blackman would deal with all the political pieces within his administration.
It'll be interesting to see if Allen can handle the new post. My guess is that he'll be there for 1 - 1 1/2 years before heading back out to the private sector.
8:11:
But will Allen head to back to the private sector because he reached his level of incompetence as the CAO as was asked to leave? How well was he doing on his own after leaving the mayor's office? Can he make a decent living in the private sector?
1:12 -
12:03 here. It might be a mix of all the issues that you brought up. Working for Villaraigosa is a beast of its own, regardless of what other elected officials you work for. It's part of his large agenda that he carries (both in current work load and future prospects), but also because he's a crazy egomaniac that makes it hard for anybody who is in the direct line of sight with him to function at their best.
Then again, Allen might have left because of some frustration in dealing with the City Hall politics that Villaraigosa's administration created. Once again going back to the work, it's hard to work well with others when the Boss makes difficult choices (eg - Mirthala, Hillary, unrealistic goals, etc.) that impact your ability to build credibility with others.
In the private sector, Allen didn't go work for some major lobbying group, but rather created his own firm. Anybody who has dipped into the private sector in that way can tell you that one thing is to complete tasks. Another is to go out there and obtain those tasks, THEN complete them. Being a task manager and being a sales person are 2 different things, and maybe Allen couldn't create the balance necessary when one ventures off on their own.
If the CAO gig doesn't work out for him, I still believe that he'll go private sector again, but it will be somewhere he doesn't have to do the sales pitch to get the projects. All he'll have to worry about is completing what has been assigned to him.
Sorry, it was 8:11. It's hard to keep track of what one says when identifying yourself by a time.
Marcus Allen will be the perfect CAO. He will once again be Chick's insider; she will get even more ammo to come after waste and stagnation at city hall. With Marcus in that position she will also be able to take revenge on the "stay out of my fact" Cardenas.
Oh this is going to be fun boys and girls.
Marcus Allen??? LOL. Or cry?
It broke my heart to leave L.A., after almost 60 years, to get out of the Diesel Death Zone. Now, every time I look at this blog, I thank my lucky stars that I was lucky enough to be able to do it.
Good luck guys, you're gonna need it!
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