OPEN LETTER to John Goss, Interim City Administrator

“I’ll get things accomplished pursuant to the direction of the city council.”
John Goss, The Carmel Pine Cone, April 22, 2011

That commitment would suffice in a city without significant problems, but Carmel’s city government has profound and fundamental governance problems stemming from Mayor Sue McCloud’s and City Councils’ serious breaches of the public trust over many, many years. Your role, then, is more than assisting the council with the budget and the selection of a fire services alternative; your role should also be about restoring public confidence in our city government. To that end, I sincerely hope that prior to you accepting the Interim City Administrator position you read former Human Resources Manager Jane Miller’s court file and have given some thought about how you can begin to restore public trust in Carmel’s city government because attorney Michael Stamp is absolutely correct in his assessment that “This is no way to run a city. As long as the city and The Pine Cone blame the victim, the city will be at risk.”

In closing, even though your tenure as Interim City Administrator is short-term, your most important priority should be restoring public trust in Carmel’s city government. In pragmatic terms, restoring public trust begins with the Interim City Administrator managing the city, not the mayor.

P.S. Regarding the upcoming Fire Services Workshop, the City should have the 76-page Fire Service Alternatives packet loaded onto the City’s website for public access purposes. The City should also have an up-to-date website with agendas and minutes for all boards and commissions, at a minimum.