Manager-for-Hire On His 4th City in 4 Years

Harold Campbell’s retirement was one of the shortest on record.

Less than two days after he called it quits as Huntington Park’s city manager, the likeable Campbell showed up behind a desk in Cudahy City Hall as that town’s top bureaucrat.

Four years and three cities later, Campbell still thinks about ending his career as a municipal administrator. Problem is, his reputation keeps spreading, and every time he thinks he is finished, another city in need calls. And Campbell, 62, just can’t seem to say no.

Since “retiring” from Huntington Park in October, 1981, Campbell has managed the affairs of three other cities--Cudahy, Cotati, a small Northern California college town, and now Artesia, where in the past 15 months he has turned the city’s financial fortunes around. In each case, he followed administrators who were fired or departed because of differences with elected officials.

Into the Frying Pan

“At times, it was like stepping into a frying pan,” said Campbell, who relishes his new career as an interim city manager-for-hire. “I don’t like the expression, but you really do become a bridge over troubled waters.”

Experienced and well-connected after 41 years of working in small cities, Campbell admits he was not really ready to retire full time when he left Huntington Park.

“My head was telling me it was time to catch my breath, get out and do something different,” said Campbell, whose first government job was in Lynwood in 1944 as city clerk. “But my heart wouldn’t let go. I’m having fun, and as long as you’re having fun that’s all that matters. Whether you’re painting a house, coaching a team or running a city, it’s got to be fun.”

It is easy these days for Campbell, who earns $4,462 a month, to smile and wax philosophical about motivation and management style. Artesia has never been in better financial shape--a position that seemed improbable when he became city manager in July, 1984. Campbell estimates that the small city of 14,500 was losing about $129,000 a year, and that, he said, is simply a “guesstimate” because City Hall records were in such poor condition.

Faced with a fiscal crisis and a divided City Council, Campbell’s game plan to pull Artesia out of the red, included:

- Exchanging $214,000 in Proposition A money--Artesia’s share of the half-cent transit tax approved by Los Angeles County voters 4 1/2 years ago--for $134,000 in general fund money with the city of Torrance. Cities can only use transit tax money on local bus or transportation systems. Because Artesia does not operate a transit line, Campbell swapped the city’s Proposition A funds with Torrance--which has an extensive bus system--for money that can be spent on anything.

- Charging residents for street lights and trash pickup, an annual saving of nearly $390,000.

- Streamlining city accounting practices and hiring a series of department heads on a part-time basis.

Part-Time Professionals

By surrounding himself with a cabinet of part-time professionals, Campbell believes he has the best of all worlds. The city saves money because it does not have to pay costly benefit premiums for the staff, while Campbell can tap the expertise of professionals who hold down full-time jobs outside City Hall. For example, C. Eugene Romig, assistant city manager and personnel officer, teaches public administration at USC.

Other members of Campbell’s management team are Phillip DeLao, planning director; Lois O’Sullivan, community development coordinator; and Betty Wallis, city clerk.

“They work 20 to 25 hours a week here, and then pursue their own careers the rest of the week,” Campbell said. “One big advantage is that they stay current with trends in the business world.”

Surplus of $350,000

Because of Campbell’s changes, the city ended fiscal 1984-85 with a surplus of $350,000--money that went to improve wages of Artesia’s 22 employees. As a result, Mayor Bob Jamison said, employee morale has never been higher.

“When he took over, this city was in sad shape,” Jamison said. “Council members were at war with the city manager. This city was stagnant. But Harold has turned it around; there is a spirit of cooperation that didn’t exist before.”

Katherine Roberts, a councilwoman in Cotati, where Campbell worked for 5 1/2 months beginning in September, 1983, agreed. “He stepped in and stabilized what was a volatile situation,” she said. “Within days, the bickering had ceased, and the city was moving forward again.”

Traveled for a While

Campbell spent almost a year in Cudahy, then took some time to travel before accepting the Cotati job--a position his daughter, a planning commissioner in nearby Petaluma, encouraged him to apply for.

While in Cotati, a town of 4,500 in Sonoma County about 30 miles north of San Francisco, Campbell and his wife, Juanita, lived in their 31-foot travel trailer. Spending weeks in those narrow confines, he said, had its drawbacks, particularly on nights when things did not go well at council meetings.

“The trailer is only 8 feet wide,” Campbell said, “and sometimes when I’d come home from a rough council session, she would joke about how hard it was to give me a wide berth.”

In Artesia, where Campbell has a month-to-month contract that ends Dec. 31, the council is searching for a permanent successor. But Jamison said he will be sorry to see Campbell go.

“He cares about people,” Jamison said, “and that’s not true about a lot of government people.”