Council renews City Manager’s contract by 3-1 vote

City Council members Eileen Goggin, far left, Anthony Eramo, Len Torres, Anissa Moore, Scott Mandel, and City Manager Jack Schnirman. Goggin was not present at Tuesday's meeting. (Photo courtesy City of Long Beach)

City Councilwoman Anissa Moore, far right, asked her fellow council members to postpone a vote to renew City Manager Jack Schnirman’s contract.

Anthony Rifilato/Herald

Many residents cheered when Council Vice President Anthony Eramo asked how many in attendance supported the renewal of Schnirman’s contract, though some agreed with Moore that the vote should be tabled.

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The City Council voted 3-1 to renew City Manager Jack Schnirman’s contract at Tuesday’s meeting, but not before Councilwoman Anissa Moore called to postpone the vote after raising a number of concerns and accusing a city official of nepotism, sexism and racism.

More than 100 residents were in attendance, and an overwhelming majority of them — including some regular critics of the administration — supported the renewal of Schnirman’s two-year contract, with many citing his leadership out of a financial crisis and during the city’s recovery after Hurricane Sandy.

Schnirman, 38, was hired in Dec. 2011, after the Democrats won control of City Hall, and Tuesday’s vote marked his third contract with the city, which makes him the longest-tenured city manager since Ed Eaton, who served for 25 years. The agreement includes Schnirman’s current annual salary of $173,871 and up to six months severance if he's terminated early.

“Over the last four years, we’ve all been through an incredible amount together, and we made some hard choices together, and we made an incredible amount of progress together,” Schnirman said, “from our financial turnaround … to … our incredible investment in Sandy recovery and infrastructure. We’ve done a lot together, and I’m looking forward to doing more together.”

While Moore, who took office on Jan. 1, acknowledged Schnirman’s record, she called for the vote to be tabled until next month’s meeting, saying she wanted more time to discuss a number of issues. “As a council, we worked together in terms of revising the new contract,” Moore said after the meeting. “However, I made it clear as a new council member that I wanted to have time to discuss it. The contract was placed on the calendar without all five people having a conversation together. … I never said I was against [Schnirman]. I never said I didn’t want to give him the contract, and I never attacked him.”

Moore, who was not the Long Beach Democratic Club’s first choice when she ran for City Council last year, amid a rift in the Democratic party, vowed to bring more transparency and accountability to City Hall. She claimed on Tuesday that party politics continues to be a problem.