Sounds like the usual leaky S.S. Hercules to me. Or...perhaps....the S.S. Minow from Gilligan's Island?

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan
The Skipper too,
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star
The professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligans Isle.

So this is the talel of the castways,
They're here for a long, long time,
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.

The first mate and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,
To make the others comfortable,
In the tropic island nest.

No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primative as can be.

So join us here each week my freinds,
You're sure to get a smile,
From seven stranded castways,
Here on "Gilligan's Isle."

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/

Olivia and Leon and all the old gard must be LMAO at this news

This subject is already under discussion in the thread at http://hercules.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-hercules-needs-a-permanent-finance-director. The current article is just a branch off from an already-existing discussion, a discussion which, I think, makes some very important points about the New Order.

Interesting. It makes the previous comments moot. Was the job posted and advertised? I Assume there is some sort of new job description of the combined, very different job qualifications. Did the Council know about this? When? How does this differ from Oliva's process of appointing friends? Where are the checks and balanced if the HR Director is also the Finance Director?

The city should post all job openings on the city web site prior to selecting candidates to interview. I believe the finance director position and the HR director position should be separate, as they require different skills.

The city should also post an up to date organizational chart on the website so that the public can have a better understanding of where its money goes.

Looks like an example of "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Seems to me that this "Recall" city council has some explaining to do.

Phil, I like your idea of the city posting an org chart. I suggest posting one of current staff positions.

The problem with a midnight hiring of a crony into a senior position like this (apart from the egregious unfairness to other potential candidates) is that she now knows that her career is on Mr. Duran's coattails. What is her motive to speak the truth to the public if it were something that would embarrass Mr. Duran or damage his career? Given the sneaky way she was hired here, her future is more likely to be with Mr. Duran's next great job, whatever than might be, than with the city of Hercules, so she is more invested in his reputation than in our city.

This midnight hiring without posting a job description and interviewing candidates is a shocking and disturbing violation of the public's trust at a time when our city's leadership sorely needs to gain our trust. It appears that Mr. Duran judges that the public's views can be safely ignored and that gaining our confidence is unimportant.

I am saddened to see that so little has changed in how we do business here in The Corrupt City.

Jeffrey,
I agree. In the attempt at fairness I cannot find the basis for this article. It wasn't in the last City Manager's report I read However , Lochner is outstanding in ferreting out the truth. So I believe this appointment happened. I suspect it has been in the works for awhile. Duran has never been a City Manager before. I think he is seriously misjudging this community. I think our green Council needs to work together and be open to other points of view.

So now we are little Richmond? I think I just vomited a little.

I would like to suggest that we focus on the short term issue, e.g., the circumstance surroundings the retention of Ms. Mastay's services. Mr. Duran unquestionably has the authority to hire a Finance Director under the current version of the Hercules Municipal Code (this section being adopted following a citizen initiative in 1988 and being contrary to the general rule of state law.). His error here is failing to fully understand the nature of the public he now serves. The citizens of Hercules have a track record of demanding to be told what is going on. The 1988 initiative demonstrated that as did the recent recall. It is in my view, foolhardy, for Mr. Duran to have hired this person without making every effort possible to be open and transparent. He did not and now we have yet another instance of, at the very least, "an appearance of impropriety" -- cronyism. We, the citizens, must take the time to appear on the 14th and educate or new City Manager in the realities of being a public servant in Hercules

Someone asked for a city org chart? Check out this one. Yikes!

http://www.ci.hercules.ca.us/documents/cm/11-12-10/Hercules%20City%20Org%20Chart.pdf

Susan,
Is it possible we can't afford the checks and balances of two separate FD and HR positions? If one person will do both, that will surely be a cost-savings. Maybe this was part of the plan which I would understand and support. Do less with less.

Completely not cool in hiring someone without public job notification. I thought Hercules just got out of the cronyism business. Am I wrong?

Mr. Duran may be entirely within his rights to hire whomever he wants: but after Hercules rocky past, one would think he would have done his homework and boned up on who his employers are and what they expect of him! He needs to be called to the carpet for this Chicago style "give your buddy a job" action!!! Our citizens have been screaming about transparency for quite a while now and either Mr. Duran hasn't heard our mantra or has turned a deaf ear. I'd like to find out which one it is! I hear there are some very qualified residents who would have loved to submitter their resumes, but didn't get the chance. Mr. Duran, time to leave the sounds of Richmond behind and dance to Hercules tune!!!

here is where the rubber meets the road. Mr. Duran answers to the council not to the citizens. the council answers to us. This "reform" council needs to show us if they do indeed stand for open, honest, transparent government free from the past abuse of power that nepostism/ cronyism, ethics violations and conflict of interest were a part of. They need to stand up to Mr. Duran and tell him that cronyism, even the hint of cronyism, will not be tolerated. That best practices in hiring including a detailed CURRENT job discription, posting of job, interviewing of candidates and a fare ranking process needs to happen BEFORE an appointment and nothing less will be tolerated. This is where we citizens get to see first hand if this council has the "right stuff" or if we just changed faces and nothing more.

Toni,
Agreed. As we have learned, the CM is answerable only to the Council. It is up to them to perform their supervisory due diligence of their two employees, the City Manager and City Attorney. We have also learned the City Attorney is actually the attorney for the Council members only, not the city at large. It is his job to advise them and keep them on the straight and narrow. Previously, Cabral's advice was found questionable. Patrick, on the other hand, is doing an outstanding job, even if we may not like his advice, at least he has the expertise and will to use it. In this instance, Duran was well within his rights to appoint someone to the permanent position. The issue is because of the manner in which he chose to do it, it gives an appearance of impropriety and cronyism. She sounds well qualified. But he is misjudging the community he now serves.He has a horrendous job in front of him and its getting worse by the day. I just hope he will learn from this experience.

There is a separate thread on this issue. The finance director need not be a CPA as a primary qualifier. CPA's generally are not administrators, they specialize in taxation and analysis. The finance director is an administrator. 20 years experience is equivalent to a MBA and certainly attending Hass is a very good education. Having said that, you need to establish independence in decision making for this position and a clear and enforceable whistle blower policy that encourages the FD to report abuses of power or non-compliance to the council.
So, I am posting it again.

Toni,
I think that's too harsh. Given the dire circumstances he needs a team with him he can trust and he needs to get us out of this mess. Having said that, the Council has the job of supervising the CM and I think they should do so. If he advised the Council of his actions prior to his appointing her, and they agreed, its on them. If he acted unilaterally with no communication to the Council, they need to have a conversation.

how can you allow the appointment to stand given our past history? This needs to be rectified and the only way that can happen is to recinde the appointment and start fresh with outreach, interviews and a ranking system that is fair. To let it stand is to allow the very same set of circumstances to happen in our city. What did we fight so hard for if it can all happen again and so soon. It is a travisty and can not stand she can not take the appointment we will never trust the numbers and we will not trust Duran.

While I do not agree with how this was done, I'm not sure how "un-hiring" someone you have authority to hire works. It would make him look weak. Another bad perception.
We can't bully people to get what we want. We are asking our CM to "buy in" to greater transparency then is required by current code. I'm not sure we have that buy in. We should find out the reasons why.
I'm guessing that there is comfort for Duran in this prior working relationship. We should have an explanation of the outcomes that brought about this preference, then maybe the citizens can have comfort too, or not.

BTW, I find it ironic that some people who were calling for further cuts to staff pay would appose combining positions to save $$. It is a situation where you must be careful what you wish for.
HR and finance is often combined, I am often (and currently) doing both in my role as Controller or Director of Finance, for several companies. It is preferable not to combine these roles but it depends on the size and complexity of the organization. Just saying.

As some have mentioned, the city manager's report was posted today. Here's the link: http://patch.com/A-qGt9 In it, the announcement of Nickie Mastay's appointment to finance director was made.

We should have heard a letter from the City Council and-or City Manager by now. They know the concerns we have and they do read this forum.

Mr. Duran? Mayor Romero? Councilman Delgado? Councilwoman DeVera? Councilman Boulanger? Councilman Wilkins? How about an explanation. Please. Thank you.

Here is where she was placed in the operations of the city of Richmond, for what it is worth
http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=7372

I think her HR position should be temporary until the City can afford the position. One lawsuit could wipe out any savings from combining the positions.. The same, actually, could be said for the Finance position. Make them both Interim and then follow a process where folks can apply and compete.