Schnirman Appointed City Manager

Jack Schnirman wants to make 2012 a banner year for Long Beach.

He encouraged City of Long Beach employees to join him in this quest during his brief address to them and his constituents after the City Council voted unanimously to appoint him the new city manager Tuesday morning.

Toward that goal, Schnirman indicated that at the top of the new administration’s agenda is the city’s financial woes that includes a downgraded bond rating.

“We’ll take a series of immediate actions to address the fiscal crisis, declaring a fiscal emergency and implementing new aggressive spending and overtime controls,” he said.

Schnirman was sworn in by Corey Klein, corporation counsel for the city, in the City Council chambers before a sizable crowd of city workers and constituents, two days after Fran Adelson, Len Torres and Scott Mandel were inducted into the City Council on New Year’s Day. Council member John McLaughlin was absent at Tuesday's meeting, and told Patch on Wednesday Patch that he had a prior travel committment.

A former chief deputy supervisor at the Township of Brookhaven, and most recently the vice president of management consulting at Bowne Management Systems, an information technology company, Schnirman vowed to implement an agenda that he said would save taxpayer dollars through “efficient, accessible and accountable government,” and to “set a new standard for good government.”

First, he laid down what he and the new administration expect from city employees, calling on them to work with a sense of team work to deliver “efficient, effective services” for residents, and to share their ideas, concerns and suggestions “about how we can work together to improve operations," he said.

When enumerating what city workers can expect from the administration, he used words like “open” and “accessible,” and vowed that his team will be persistent in delivering “real results for our residents.”

“We believe in having a plan,” Schnirman continued. “Every department and everyone we bring in will draft a performance plan. We’ll set goals, we’ll set time lines, and we will measure our progress.”

As he hires a team to work on these goals, the new city manager indicated that changes in management are coming and that he will require full status reports of departmental operations. 

City employee James Hodge was the lone person in the crowd who accepted Council President Fran Adelson’s invitation for comments or questions. “Congratulations and may God bless this administration, all five of the City Council members and the incoming city manager and his family,” Hodge said. “And may God continue to bless all the City of Long Beach workers as we endeavor in this city to make it a better place.”

Prior to the 9 a.m. meeting, Schnirman greeted city workers and constituents in the lobby at City Hall. His first day on the job will be spent meeting with city workers and department heads, he said, and after 5 p.m. he plans head to the Long Island Rail Road station to meet more constituents as they depart from trains.