City should seek many candidates
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Now that Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau has announced he will retire in September, naturally speculation will lead to his successor. It would seem obvious that Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff should step right in.
He’s highly thought of, he’s shown his capability — particularly his central role in solving the thorny rehabilitation-home issue — and he’s next in line. So it makes sense to endorse him, right?
Not so fast.
We have no major objections to Kiff. He is clearly an excellent candidate for the job. But he can’t be the only candidate, and city officials must resist going through the motions when sizing up alternatives.
This is especially true now that the civil service board is scrutinizing promotions within the police department. It appears Police Chief John Klein, who was promoted to top cop in 2007, may have gotten the job incorrectly.
Bludau has argued, quite convincingly, that he thought the civil service system encouraged promotion from within and that he followed the rules correctly. If a veteran administrator like Bludau can make a mistake then anyone can.
That makes it all the more critical that Newport Beach leaders do their due diligence when finding Bludau’s replacement.
They may still settle on Kiff, but they should make sure they seriously and correctly consider other candidates outside city staff.
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