You can call us at 310 885-5860, send an email to lnoflin@att.net or reply to this email with the name of the poster you would like.
Posters will be available at City Hall Tuesday, September 3, 2013 ~ 4:45 PM for those who would like to make a showing before City Council Meeting
Join us as we protest and call for a complete investigation into the hiring of our new city manager.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 ~ Protest begins at 5:00 PM CITY HALL HELEN KAWAGOE COUNCIL CHAMBERS 701 EAST CARSON STREET CARSON, CA 90745
See below an article about Sam Ghaly published in the Daily Breeze Saturday, August 24, 2013 or you can read it on line at Carson’s new top administrator lacks qualifications
Please call City Hall 310 952-1700 ext. 1000 and tell them we want a complete investigation and all responsible parties held accountable.
And send them an email protesting the hiring until the manager has been properly vetted.
Jim Dear Email: jdear@carson.ca.us
Elito M. Santarina Email: myfrancisone@yahoo.com
Lula Davis-Holmes Email: lholmes@carson.ca.us Mike A. Gipson Email: mgipson@carson.ca.us
Albert Robles Email: arobles@carson.ca.us
1/9/2014 By Sandy MazzaDaily Breeze Posted: 08/23/13, 3:39 PM PDT |
Carson’s new top administrator lacks qualifications.
Though recently hired Carson City Manager Sam Ghaly has decades of experience as a building and safety inspector checking plans and enforcing codes, he has never managed a large number of employees, a budget, or done any sort of public relations work, all of which are required qualifications for the job, according to the city’s written description of the position.
After approving a three-year contract in a 4-1 vote on Aug. 6, city officials announced in a written release that Ghaly has all the required expertise, including “over thirty-five years of operations management and supervision experience,” but they did not say where or how he got that expertise or experience.
And his resume doesn’t say much about that either.
Councilwoman Lula Davis-Holmes, who was the lone dissenting vote, expressed concern that Ghaly wasn’t properly vetted. “My vote says everything I have to say about this situation, and I stand firm on it,” Davis-Holmes said. “I would like to know if our Human Relations Department did an employment verification. Did we do due diligence in checking out his resume? We need to bring light to it one way or the other.”
Ghaly, 56, of Lake Forest did not return requests for comment. He replaces David Biggs, a highly experienced city manager who was removed by a 3-2 council vote in June. No reason was announced for Biggs’ removal. He was paid a nearly $100,000 severance fee.
Ghaly’s resume asserts that he has been employed by Gardena, Montebello, Diamond Bar and Buena Park. But Buena Park is the only city that has a record of him as an employee. According to Buena Park officials, Ghaly was a plan check engineer for that city from 1991 to 1998, though his resume states his job title there was “B & S Manager” from 1990 to 1995.
According to his resume, Ghaly moved to California from New York, where he worked for a consulting company after graduating from Alexandria University in Egypt in 1980. According to his resume, Ghaly came to California in 1984 to work for the city of Montebello as a plans examiner. Montebello officials said they have no record of Ghaly’s employment, though he claims to have been employed there from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1999 to 2009.
Ghaly’s resume also points to his stint as deputy chief official for Diamond Bar from 1995 to 1999. Again, the city has no record of Ghaly’s employment with the city. Diamond Bar officials, however, said he worked as a building inspector and plan checker for D & J Engineering, a contractor hired by the city. In 1995, he received a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Redlands. In 2009, he began doing work for the city of Gardena through a contractor called J & S Consulting. According to city officials Ghaly was never Gardena’s “chief building official”, although he worked in that capacity as an employee of J & S.
A job description for the Carson city manager’s position states that candidates should have “five years increasingly responsible administrative experience in the planning, coordinating and financing of a municipality.” Nevertheless, Ghaly, who has only apparently worked in the field of building and safety, was chosen from a field of candidates who applied to be the assistant city manager before Biggs was removed. He will be introduced to the community during a reception at 9 a.m. Aug. 27 in the Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center.
Carson Mayor Jim Dear defended the hiring and characterized Ghaly as “competent, intelligent, experienced and able to talk to people.”
Dear said Ghaly would bring a “fresh approach” to City Hall as we protest and call for a complete investigation into the hiring of our new city manager.