Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tinfow leaving Pacifica City Manager job

 
From: ltinfow@ci.pacifica.ca.us
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 1:50 PM
To: ltinfow@ci.pacifica.ca.us
Subject: News to Share
 
Good morning everyone,
 
First let me apologize for sharing this news via email. I'm trying to let folks know at roughly the same time and email is the only way to do that.
 
My news is that I have accepted an offer to serve as the City Manager of Benicia. The Benicia City Council will be acting on my contract at its 2/28 meeting and the agenda will be posted today or tomorrow.  While not final until the Council approves my contract, I expect them to do so and I wanted you to hear this news from me as soon as it became public.  I anticipate my last day in Pacifica will be March 31. 
 
As far as next steps, the Council plans to appoint an Interim City Manager to oversee operations between my leaving and the arrival of the new manager.  Both City Attorney Michelle Kenyon and I are providing support and assistance to the Council with these activities.
 
It’s been such a pleasure to work with you all and to help move the City forward during my 3+ years here.  I have appreciated your support of my work here so much!  Thank you.
 
Fondly,
 
Lorie Tinfow
City Manager
City of Pacifica
170 Santa Maria Ave.
Pacifica, CA  94044
(650) 738-7409
ltinfow@ci.pacifica.ca.us

Posted by Steve Sinai

 

57 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buh-bye

Steve Sinai said...

No fun to work in a town where nothing happens.

Anonymous said...

Maybe she did not like results of last election!She was well paid.

Anonymous said...

It was only a matter of time before the puppet masters of illegitimate Deirdre, Keener and Digre would run Tinfow out of town. Who knew it would happen so quickly.
Pacifica will now go back to being controlled by the incompetent, faux-enviro "I Got Mines".
Pacifica is sunk.

Anonymous said...

She did a great deal to move this city forward including getting the finances in order in the midst of chaos, and importantly garnering emergency funds needed as a result of the erosion, sink holes, mudslides, etc... Many may not understand this, but her expertise will be seriously missed. She hired most of the current high level staff including Chief of Police, Assistant City Manager, Economic Development Manager, Planning Director, Public Waste, etc...don't be surprised if there is a mass exodus. Let's see what this new council can do to continue to move this city forward with their first priority rent control. Thanks to council majority for removing an exceptional city manager.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget. The new - old council majority is a very special breed of extremely smart people who know better than any of us regular folk how to run a town.
Can't wait to see all the great things they will accomplish after every last one of the current staff is run out of town. Can't have progress, construction or fiscal liquidity.
The froggies, snakes and Plovers would never settle for any such thing.
Will the John Curtis replacement please rise. Loeb?

Anonymous said...

7:34 what a dumb comment. There are a lot of "well paid" staffers jumping the Trump ship too.
Sometimes money just doesn't make up for the pure lunacy in the White House and the pure hypocrisy that has recaptured Pacifica.

Steve Sinai said...

7:34's comment made a lot of sense to me. Tinfow probably saw that with the new NIMBY council majority, she'd be sitting around doing nothing productive.

If you're a baseball player, would you rather be on the SF Giants, who try to win, or the Oakland A's, who are satisfied with mediocrity? Under Digre, Martin and Keener, Pacifica is analogous to the latter.

Carl Common Sense said...

I hear Tanner is available, the uber yes city manager.

Anonymous said...

Get it right.
Tanner was an uber YES man for the uber NOBY's.

Anonymous said...

Bankruptcy and Dis-incorporation here we come!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Who can blame her? The writing was on the wall. How could Tinfow advance any city programs when she's up against an obstructionist council dominated by a group that votes no on everything and does all it can to undermine her agenda?

The head member of the NO-Nothings voted against construction of a friggin' SIDEWALK!!! and not only opposed a new library, he lent his name to the ballot opposition statement right there with Dan Stegink! Classy!

I hope no one wants anything built on the beach blvd site, because this group of NOBIES has done it's best to bring the entire project crashing down upon our heads.

Pacifica is so effing effed it isn't even funny. What a shit-heap.

Anonymous said...

My heavens! Such a calamity! I think I have the vapors. Must sit down.

Anonymous said...

The Tragi-comedy of a town called Pacifica continues.
Time to dis-incorporate?

Anonymous said...

1:01 Tell us how you really feel. If you are in the "I got mine, screw everyone else cult" this is a really good day. Loeb and his gang are busting out the beer and buds.
It's party time for all of the fucking out of their mind faux-enviro NOBY's.
I hope the sea level rises and pulls your disgusting shit shack hovels into the deep blue sea.

Anonymous said...

Trump's fault!

Anonymous said...

How good is assistant manager Laurenzo Hines?

Anonymous said...

1:01...there's been a hole in the ground at Beach Blvd for [b]SEVENTEEN YEARS.[/b] It's too bad that no one has never proposed the perfect development for the site, cuz we could have been generating revenue this entire time, but don't worry...I'm sure the perfect project that the NIMBIES will say yes to is just around the corner. Sure, sure, they're not against everything, it's just that they're against every project proposed so far because of reasons. But they'll say yes to the right one, pinky swear!

Repeat with quarry, fassler, cattle hill, oddstadt, senior housing at park mall, fish and bowl, fog city java lot, the rock, holiday inn expansion, teacher housing at frontier land, and on and on and on.

It's very funny how no project ever meets the NIMBY criteria for these sites, but I'm sure the NOBIES will say yes to one when it shows upahahahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...

When you can't flush your toilet without causing a sewage spill and you can't drive to the grocery store without breaking an axle (ps, your home is broken into while you're there), you would think even our more dim-witted council members would get a clue and realize that this town can't even perform it's most basic of functions. I dunno, but when your costs are continually outpacing your revenues and you have zero ability to maintain any of your city's infrastructure, isn't that a flashing light as bright as the sun telling you that something is very very very wrong with how you've been doing things?

And yet the gods among us block everything and behave like they're civil engineers to boot. Council members are supposed to represent the people while minding the purse, not act like pretend-city-managers who can't find their assess with both hands.

[b]STOP SAYING NO TO EVERYTHING AND FUCKING ***WORK*** TO MAKE SOMETHING -- ANYTHING -- HAPPEN, YOU COMPLETE NUMBSKULLS![/b]

Anonymous said...

We are dealing with a group of people who wring their hands and cry that they want to do something about housing availability and the cost of rent, but then they oppose any and all new housing projects.

I don't think they're very enlightened thinkers, to be honest.

One might even be inclined to call them hypocrites.

I mean, if you were so inclined.

Anonymous said...

430 Lorenzo Hines is Lorie Tinfow's Joe Biden.

Anonymous said...

Lorenzo is a very smart and capable administrator/finance guy. Only problem is he's one of "them". You know. one of the evil people in favor of a creating a real economy which actually might sustain a city of 38,000 people. He'll be run out by the freaks in the faux-enviro cult soon enough. Besides he's a black man. The NOBY's did quite a tune on Don Peebles, while protecting red-legged frogs, green garter snakes and snowy white plovers. Theses snaggle-toothed wrinkled up white people would never stand for a man of color being a success in the midst of all their hypocritical lily whiteness.

Steve Sinai said...

With all the upcoming deportations, lots of housing should be coming available this year. NIMBYS are rejoicing.

Anonymous said...

Despite his/her racial provocation, 8:31 hits upon a very important point: the actions necessary to sustain a city of 38,000 are the very things that are continually blocked by the NO-Nothings.

Until this changes, Pacifica will continue its slow decay. We're at the point where the city is beginning to be unable to provide the most basic services to its citizens. These problems are only going to accelerate because there's nothing on the horizon (or just over it) that will help us get on our feet.

Anonymous said...

Flash! The goofy majority, on the "no on everything council", has decided to make rent stabilization their top concern for the upcoming year. In other words their top priority is to tax multiple unit owners, an extremely thin slice of our population, to force lower rents. Rent control does harm not good.
Building owners will now spike their rents to protect themselves.
Improvements will be deferred as long as possible resulting in a down grade of rental quality. Developers will not propose multiple unit housing with rent control on the horizon.
Of course the majority council will now pack the planning commission with 100% NOBY's and their puppet masters will appeal, deny, delay and sue any one who tries to build anything.
Meanwhile the real cause of high rents, scarcity of supply, is propagated by this nutty group who know nothing about market reality, housing, land use or anything else.
Complete fucking selfish idiots are in charge and Pacifica will soon be biting the dust.

PO'ed in P-Town said...

When, not if, Pacifica goes to the county watch these do-nothing nobies rant and rail in Redwood City about proposals to build smart development in town. Then watch the supes ignore them and do what they thing is good for the county, not the sniveling shits that ruined what was a viable city 40 years ago.

Anonymous said...

How did Pacifica end up this way? Does anyone have a history of events? Any kindly old timers care to indulge?

Anonymous said...

In the early days, Pacifica was a nice friendly working class city. Lot's of kids, schools and civic pride. It was mostly a very safe bedroom community for San Francisco where many of the grown ups and homeowners worked. It was very folksy and warm and was always trying to invest in itself and supported local businesses almost out of a civic duty.
That all changed in the mid-eighties when the so called "Friends of Pacifica" hijacked the city council, fired almost everyone who didn't see the world their way and started this grand project of faux-environmentalism. Peter Loeb was the mayor and his buddies started filling all of the newly available seats on commissions, staff and special interest groups. Almost all of the same players are still in town today except the ones who thankfully died. They continue to bully, delay, appeal and sue nearly every project that comes along in the the name of environmentalism. Their latest straw dog is Sea Level Rise.
This group is essentially incompetent and lacks any real expertise to run a city but they do it anyway. They look down their noses at everyone not in their group and convince themselves and any one who is naive, how smart and earth friendly they are.
The proof is in the pudding. We have been flirting with bankruptcy for a decade. Our infrastructure is in shambles and most of our businesses are entirely anemic or gone altogether. God forbid if a talented staff person like Lori Tinfow came along. That person would soon be run off if they didn't drink the faux-enviro kool-aid.
In short, our city was stolen by the faux-enviro snobs and they've been giving each other high fives, medals and plaques for their great work ever since. Their mantra is "I got mine, the rest of you go away".

Anonymous said...

Some while ago, my dad visited me from a far off country that is generally considered 3rd world. He was utterly aghast at the quality of infrastructure in Pacifica (and SF Bay Area in general) considering what I had paid for a home (I work in the city) in dollars translated to 3rd world currency. For the kind of money I paid here, I would easily get a mansion and world class (think Singapore level) city infrastructure.
The pot-holed streets, dog poop along the streets, open storm water drainage, crooked and under built streets etc just left him speechless.

I will tell you without any bias, the quality of infrastructure in Pacifica is on par with mid-to-low economic neighborhoods of his 3rd world country. I am quite surprised & puzzled most of Pacifica puts up with it.

Anonymous said...

The NOBY's and the "I got mines", love the decayed condition of Pacifica.
It's the best weapon they have to keep others out and protect their selfish interests.
Pot-holed streets, traffic snarled highways, extreme shortage of housing, up tick in crime, insolvent city finances, maximized giveaways to GGNRA, phony efforts to accommodate low income family housing and faux-environmentalism all works in their favor to keep others out.
They want third world living so that no one else will move here.
These are disgusting creepy people who in reality are the enemies of Pacifica.
Please move to Bolinas where the locals steal freeway signage so people can't find it.
We want our city back.

Anonymous said...

I haven't been in Pacifica as long as 12:05, but that's pretty much the same story I know about since I found myself here in the '90s.

Don't know how it was before then, but ever since I've been here, the city has limped along with its finances. Other cities have managed their resources, have had rain day funds, etc, and have embarked on fairly sizable civic projects, but not Pacifica.

My recollection is that we got by for a long while by raiding the sewer fund to make ends meet elsewhere. Mind you, we weren't funding improvements with this money, we were using it to plug gaps and manage shortfalls in other accounts. A state supreme court decision put the end to that sort of borrowing, but we see in Linda Mar (and elsewhere) the long term ramifications of not having funded basic sewer maintenance over the years -- sewer overflows, spills and an infrastructure held together with duct tape.

The city came into about $7 million dollars -- about 10 years ago maybe? -- as the result of lawsuit against a would be Fish-and-Bowl developer. That money was never invested or put to any single good use. Rather it was pissed away to make up the usual shortfalls and to plug budget gaps. See a pattern here?

For quite a while, the city had a real addiction to throwing money at consultants for just about anything imaginable. $80K here, $35K there, it all added up to about $4M+ over several years. Literally hundreds of thousands, if not close to a million dollars has been spent "studying" the Beach Blvd. site. You might as well have lit that pile of money on fire for all it's done.

But in the end, 12:05 gets at the crux of the matter. Our city councils don't seem to be willing to compromise about anything in order to move things forward. It's all "no" all the itme.

Adults haven't been in charge of this city for a long, long time. Rhodes was in waaaay over his head. We didn't even have anyone in charge of the Finance Department for many years -- Ritzma was from HR and oversaw both departments. No one was minding the henhouse as Tinfow discoved when she saw >$4 million was 'missing' from the books.

Wit Tinfow we finally got someone who started instituting some structure and she got run out of town by a group of people that, quite honestly, I don't think has a clue about what it takes to run a healthy city. Projects need to go forward and staff needs to know that they have city council buy-in on them. Without a legislative body willing to work with staff, why would that staff want to show up if it's just to keep a seat warm on the Titanic?

It's all a big mess and MAAAAAYBE could be turned around if city council would be willing to compromise and move things forward rather than make a "principled" stand to block and undermine everything. But given the past 20 years' worth of collective behavior from council, there's about a 1% chance of this happening.

And don't get me started on what the County thinks of this sorry crew.

Anonymous said...

The problem as I see it is that the group of people that have long been in charge of Pacifica don't want it to get any bigger than it is already, but they also want all the "goodies" that a city should provide. The trouble is, you can't have both! The bottom line is that we've always been a bit too small to be able to pay for the levels of police, fire, and public works services that a healthy city requires.

You see this dissonance showing up in a variety of ways. Rent control is a great example where lack of housing stock results in sky-high home prices and rents, but when additional housing is proposed here in Pacifica, it's always shot down. How do people square that circle in their minds? You want cheaper rents but also want to prevent the construction of any additional rental units or homes?

Remember when a senior housing center was proposed behind Park Pacifica Mall? A community group got together and tried to blocked it in Planning, appealed the planning decision to Council, you know -- the usual. Of course, the project died due to these delaying tactics. I asked one of the NOBIES about it during one of the appeals. The building was going to be adjacent to the San Pedro Creek, so he was against the project for that reason. As we spoke further, he told me he lived in a home next to the same creek. I asked him if he was happy that he could live where he did. He said yes. I told him that he must be happy no one blocked HIS home when they could have. The hypocritical stance just never clicked in his mind -- it was okay for HIM to live where he did, but it wasn't for anyone else!

The NOBIES don't want any decisions made that result in the possibility of additional growth. So NO to developments or highway widening that might make it possible for development. What they fail to realize is that our systems of public services, infrastructure, visitor services, schools, housing...are all interconnected. Blocking any/all housing will have follow-on effects. Housing development has been blocked for a LONG time, so we're starting to feel the pinch of a LOT of follow-on effects to come.

Bottom line: poorly educated city council members make some REALLY short term decisions without considering their long term effects. It's too bad we don't have a more scrutinized campaign for city councilmembers because most of them are absolutely unqualified and dangerous for our city's health. The proof is all around us.

The Child is having a Tantrum said...

Before Lorie was hired, the City's HR consultant and Ann Ritzma held a very interesting event at the council chambers asking the community what they wanted in a City Manager. Several attended. Now that would be a good thing to do a again, let the community be heard and let's continue moving forwards!

Anonymous said...

Mayors of Pacifica

1978-1979 Nick Gust
1979-1980 Stanley Farber
1980-1981 Ellie McGuire
1981-1982 Peter Murray
1982-1983 Jeanette Warden
1983-1984 Peter Loeb
1984-1985 Ginny Silva Jaquith
1985-1986 Charles Curry
1986-1987 Jon Galehouse
1987-1988 Ginny Silva Jaquith
1988-1989 Fred Howard
1989-1990 Peter Loeb
1990-1991 Ginny Silva Jaquith
1991-1992 Jon Galehouse
1992-1993 Bonnie Wells
1993-1994 Ellen Castelli
1994-1995 Barbara Carr
1995-1996 Ellen Castelli
1996-1997 Maxine Gonsalves
1997-1998 Dorothy Edminster
1998-1999 Calvin Hinton
1999-2000 Peter DeJarnatt
2000-2001 James Vreeland
2001-2002 Barbra Carr
2002-2003 Peter DeJarnatt
2003-2004 James Vreeland
2004-2005 Julie Lancelle
2005-2006 Sue Digre
2006-2007 Pete DeJarnatt
2007-2008 James Vreeland
2008-2009 Julie Lancelle
2009-2010 Sue Digre
2010-2011 Mary Ann Nihart
2011-2012 Pete DeJarnatt
2012-2013 Len Stone
2013-2014 Mary Ann Nihart
2014-2015 Karen Ervin
2015-2016 Sue Digre

Anonymous said...

Name, Number of terms

Nick Gust, 1
Stanley Farber, 1
Ellie McGuire, 1
Peter Murray, 1
Jeanetter Warden, 1

Peter Loeb, 2
Ginny Silva Jaquith, 3
Charles Curry, 1
Jon Galehouse, 2
Fred Howard, 1
Bonnie Wells, 1
Ellen Castelli, 2
Barbara Carr, 2
Maxine Gonsalves, 1
Dorothy Edminster, 1
Calvin Hinton, 1
Peter DeJarnatt, 4
James Vreeland, 3
Julie Lancelle, 2
Sue Digre, 3
Mary Ann Nihart 2
Len Stone, 1
Karen Ervin, 1

Between Loeb, DeJarnatt, Vreeland, Lancelle and Digre, they held the Mayoral post for 14 yrs of 34 yrs from 1983 to 2016.
The cumulative sum of years, the Mayoral post was held by people for more than 1 yr from 1983 to 2016, is 25 yrs of 34 yrs.

Is this in any way representative of the aspirations of Pacifica? This seems like a blatant abuse of power.

PO'ed in P-Town said...

This infection that has engulfed Pacifica has one source, Keener. He is a mean, vindictive, conniving man. Talks out of the side of his mouth. Says one thing and slinks around like mayhem on the commercial. He had it out for Tinfoe because she is a smart, forward thinking woman and he had no room in his agenda for questions. Deirdre is on council courtesy of nasty-ass politics coordinated and executed by the leadership of the group that has caused this town to LOSE population over the last 20 years. She's a female Keener. Digre is along for the ride. We should ask the county to rescue us.

Anonymous said...

How in the world can the number of terms anybody served on council or served as mayor be a "blatant abuse of power"? These are elected positions, and the mayor is rotated each year. If you're elected to x number of terms, you'll probably be mayor x number of times. Winning an election is a "blatant abuse of power"? Somebody doesn't understand how our democratic system of government works.

Anonymous said...

9:41, I would suggest it is you who doesn't understand how our council works, my precious snowflake.

Anonymous said...

I know how democratic systems of government work, Pacifica's is no democratic system. It's an oligarchy run by the few who wear masks of phony environmentalism. This same group figured out how to pervert our latest election and put their puppet Deirdre in. This same group stomps on ethical, honest and competent people and celebrates the lies and hypocrisy of their own.
These are the enemies of Pacifica.

Anonymous said...

All the people listed in the comments above were ELECTED, you dimwit.

Anonymous said...

So was Trump, Bush, Reagan and Nixon..what's your point?

Anonymous said...

8:28 You must be new in town. Yea Keener and Deirdre are lying, conniving puppets of the faux-enviros. Yea Digre is along for the ride mostly cuz there's only sawdust up top if you know what I mean.
but....You missed the worst period of time since Loeb and Howard ruled the rooste. The reign of Vreeland, Lancelle and deJarnutt was absolutely the most destructive council to ever hit our city. Incompetent, lying, narcissistic, phony, manipulative are just a few of the many words that could be used to describe them.
I predict that Keener and Deirdre are the start of another catastrophic period in our history.Poor little Pacifica just can't get a break. Too many people glued to the TV or smoking bowls I guess.

Anonymous said...

Getting elected is not a blatant abuse of power.

If you want to change things, get off your ass, get organized, work hard, get people you agree with elected ... or even get yourself elected.

Steve Sinai said...

Martin's only on council because her supporters used a bureaucratic loophole to eliminate a more popular candidate. I wouldn't call that "elected." Martin and her supporters thought their personal interests were more important than letting Pacificans decide who would be on council.

Vreeland was also a federal employee and technically unable to campaign for a council seat, yet none of his opponents stooped to the level of Martin and her supporters.

Anonymous said...

Lori Tinfow was losing agenda baton to council.As former candidate Bridget Duffy said,I got 4,000 votes and carry weight;City Manager authority over agenda is excessive and should be ended.

Anonymous said...

Martin and her supporters did not do anything. Mary Ann Nihart did it to herself.

The candidates with the most votes get elected. That's what most people call "elected."

The Hatch Act does not make a federal employee like Jim Vreeland "technically unable to campaign for a council seat." It says a federal employee can't be in a partisan election .

Anonymous said...

2:08 Deirdre you really need to stop trying to defend yourself.
You are a malignant marker that resides in Pacifica's DNA.
If you really want to help heal our city, STEP DOWN.

Anonymous said...

@2:08- What is a partisan election and who determines whether one is partisan or not? Does any one person have the ability to recast an election from non partisan to partisan merely by a single act or statement? One should question a system where one person or entity has such power, i.e., the ability to override the voice/intent of the people.

I seem to be the only one out here who believes that this was not the intent of the framers of the Hatch Act. I believe that Nihart should have run for CC, irrespective of this perverted interpretation of the Hatch Act. And, if need be, she should have challenged this misinterpretation of the Hatch Act in a court of law where she would have ultimately prevailed.

I will always believe that it was Nihart's ambition to hold higher office in the future that led to her decision to bluff us and the SMCDCC. Listen, don't be embarrassed if you bought it. It was well conceived, and, you are not alone...

Anonymous said...

@ 2:08 is absolutely right. If Nihart hadn't repeatedly called the authorities to push to have herself disqualified under the Hatch act so that Martin would get elected, it would never have happened. She has only herself to blame. Anyone who thinks differently just isn't open to alternative facts, and should start listening to the know-everything (or is it the no-everything?) Nobys, and not the fake lying media.

Anonymous said...

REALITY CHECK: this wasn't a partisan election until Martin's supporters made it one by calling and complaining. REPEAT FOR THE SLOWER READERS: Nihart was given the okay to run and it was the Martin supporters' subsequent complaints that changed that.

Martin would have lost the election if her supporters hadn't gamed the system. Even her campaign manager has flat out stated this.

Anonymous said...

REALITY CHECK FOR THE IMPENETRABLY DENSE READER: There is no proof or evidence that it was "Martin's supporters" who called and complained about Nihart being in a partisan election.

Anonymous said...

The only reason Bridget Duffy got 4,000 votes was because those votes were against Mary Ann and Sue. They were not for Bridget.

Anonymous said...

Deirdre was the stooge.
Kaufman was the brains.
Stinky dick was the sniper.

Anonymous said...

There is no proof or evidence that it was "Martin's supporters" who called and complained about Nihart being in a partisan election.


sure, sure, dan, whatever you say. yeah, it was someone in kansas concerned about "truth, justice, and the American Way" who was the serial complainer, not you. of course it wasn't some local blowhard who posted constantly about Nihart's "violations" and who went to city council to demand that she step down several times. Nah, wasn't that balding dummy, it was someone in kansas. gtfo.

Anonymous said...

@2:38 + 4:11

So your point is so solid that you have to stoop to physical attacks on commenters to win the day. Well done, brainiacs! Hope you both have had a good look in the mirror lately yourselves!

And well done FP for not censoring this crap. Much better that you limit censorship to those who disagree with you and/or call you out on it. No wonder this town is such a loser. How can it be otherwise when it is filled with so many!

Anonymous said...

nice meltdown 8:16

Anonymous said...

I hope some or all you folks commenting above RUN for office.