Long Beach Democrats announce new city manager

Following a nationwide search and weeks of speculation, the members of the incoming Democratic City Council majority announced on Tuesday that they have tapped Jack Schnirman, the former chief deputy supervisor of the Town of Brookhaven, as Long Beach’s new city manager.

“After an extensive search and the screening of close to 200 resumes from all over the country, the new council majority has chosen an outstanding individual to manage our administration,” Fran Adelson, one of two new council members elected in November, said in a statement.

Adelson, fellow newcomer Scott Mandel and incumbents Mike Fagen and Len Torres said in a press release that they narrowed down a list of viable candidates, using “criteria best reflecting the current fiscal and management problems confronting Long Beach.”

“Knowing the myriad problems facing our city,” Torres said, “we looked for an individual with municipal administrative familiarity and the skills to move our city in a new direction.”

Schnirman, 34, will start work on Jan. 1, after current City Manager Charles Theofan leaves office amid a recent cash-flow crisis, a bond rating downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service (see accompanying story) and a looming budget deficit. Schnirman said that his first priority would be to address the city’s finances.

“I look forward to working with the city’s workers to implement the council’s reform agenda, restore Long Beach’s finances and save taxpayer dollars,” he said. “I’ve stepped into a challenging fiscal situation before and helped reform a government — I’m ready to dive right in and hit the ground running to serve all Long Beach residents.”

He described the Moody’s report as “alarming.” “To me, that was a very aggressively worded report, and it gave me real pause,” Schnirman said. “It’s rare — what was interesting is not only did they downgrade the rating, but they put the city on a negative outlook, so they’re considering a second downgrade. If more information comes to light, we may be downgraded again, and we have to be prepared for that possibility.”

In Brookhaven, city Democrats said, Schnirman led a team that instituted strict spending controls and eliminated a $15.3 million deficit, put the town on solid financial footing and ensured good bond ratings from Wall Street and lower interest payments for taxpayers.

“Financial crisis management experience was a key factor in deciding who to bring in for an interview,” Fagen explained. “The complete picture of the fiscal mismanagement of Long Beach is still unknown. We still don’t know how bad it is. But we know we need someone who has the knowledge and expertise to turn the city around.”

Mandel described the city manager search as “exhaustive,” saying that it included “a wide range of candidates with outstanding credentials.”

The lone remaining Republican on the council, John McLaughlin, also expressed his support for Schnirman on Tuesday. “I am confident that Mr. Schnirman is up for the task ahead, and he has my full support,” McLaughlin said.

Mandel said that the council has yet to select a police commissioner or City Council president. “Our first call to duty was to make sure we had a qualified city manager in place, and we really focused our efforts to do an exhaustive search to find the right person with the right credentials and experience, and we’re very pleased with who we selected,” he said. “Now that we have our city manager in place, we’re able to move forward and address other concerns — budgetary, vacancies and things of that nature.”

Schnirman served as Brookhaven’s deputy chief supervisor from 2006 to 2008, managing the town’s day-to-day operations under Supervisor Brian Foley in the state’s largest township, with a budget of $300 million, a 1,200-member work force and a population of nearly 500,000. He said that he “aggressively executed” a plan to get the town’s finances back on track after decades of corruption and mismanagement.

Schnirman — who earned a degree in international relations from Tufts University and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government — was the campaign manager for the Brookhaven Democratic Committee in 2005, overseeing nine campaigns that led to the election of Foley and a Democratic Town Council majority, the first change of majorities in decades.

He implemented innovative reforms in Brookhaven, Democrats said, including a 311-style non-emergency hotline and ServiceStat, a nationally recognized performance management and accountability initiative that saved the town more than $2 million while eliminating waste.

He resigned from his position in Brookhaven to become vice president of management consulting at Mineola-based Bowne Management Systems, where he focused on helping local governments and nonprofit organizations improve the efficiency of their operations. He has also served as deputy press secretary to U.S. Sen. John Kerry and as a member of Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s legislative staff, among other roles. He is a career advisor to the NYU Wagner School of Public Service’s Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service.

Of returning to municipal government, he said, “There’s a variety of similarities between Long Beach and Brookhaven. We came into Brookhaven in a challenging time financially … it had really been mismanaged and neglected for decades.” He added that work on the city’s finances and management structure would be key priorities.

“Here what I see,” he said. “It’s obviously a difficult time for Long Beach in the sense that there’s a real fiscal crisis going on. I don’t know if we know the full depth of it, but we will find out … and work together on a very aggressive and responsible plan to get us on the road to recovery.”

In the months leading up to the election, the Democratic candidates said that they wanted a city manager who lived in Long Beach or was willing to move here, and Schnirman, a native of Kings Park who now lives in Brooklyn, plans to do that. “We were not only impressed that Jack will be a resident of Long Beach, but also about his enthusiasm to be a contributing member of the Long Beach community,” Mandel said.

“I’m looking forward to … running on the boardwalk in the morning, to meeting and listening to people and being able to ride my bike to work and really be an active member of the community,” Schnirman said. “Long Beach has a really vibrant downtown, and very few places do on Long Island.”

Though he is a Democrat, Schnirman said that he is ready to take a fresh approach to city government in Long Beach. “As a city manager, it’s my responsibility to take a proactive, nonpartisan approach and work for all the members of the City Council,” he said. “I have a long history of nonpartisan roles, and I think folks will find that I’m very professional and approachable, and accessible to work with. There is no ideology involved in paving roads, sweeping streets and running government efficiently — you’re either getting it done the right way and serving people or you’re not. And we will.”