Bezak<\/a> takes over day-to-day operations of the nation\u2019s eighth-largest city, putting her at the helm of an organization with a $6 billion budget and more than 12,000 workers.<\/p>\nBezak was praised effusively Monday by labor leaders, the city auditor and private sector organizations like the Padres, San Diego Gas & Electric, the Hillcrest Business Association and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.<\/p>\n
She was called a hard worker who leads with humility, takes a no-nonsense approach to red tape, speaks bluntly when necessary and never tells people something can\u2019t change just because it\u2019s been done a certain way for years.<\/p>\n
Bezak, 44, said her early priorities would be preparing for El Ni\u00f1o storms, the city\u2019s budget crisis, renegotiating outdated city leases and listening to employees to learn where major changes are needed.<\/p>\n
Her annual salary will be $460,000, and her total compensation with fringe benefits will be $541,000.<\/p>\n
The chief operating officer position has been essentially vacant for the last 20 months, with Mayor Todd Gloria serving in a dual role as mayor and COO \u2014 a move that has sometimes drawn harsh criticism from council members.<\/p>\n
Council members praised Gloria for reversing course and heeding their calls to name a COO. The move comes four weeks after a trash over-billing scandal renewed those calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a bit vocal about the need for the city to restore trust with the public, and how part of that effort starts with re-establishing a chief operating officer,\u201d Councilmember Kent Lee said Monday.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Vivian Moreno agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think your appointment represents a new day for the city of San Diego,\u201d Moreno said to Bezak before the council confirmed her appointment in an 8-0 vote. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to ensure that our day-to-day operations receive the constant attention, focus and leadership they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Henry Foster, perhaps Gloria\u2019s loudest critic at City Hall, praised the mayor\u2019s decision to finally take the council\u2019s advice and fill the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad the city will, at long last, have a chief operating officer,\u201d Foster said.<\/p>\n
But Foster said Bezak\u2019s appointment won\u2019t make much of a difference if the mayor allows political expediency to be more important than problem-solving in the directions he gives to Bezak.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure this addresses the root of the problems with this administration,\u201d Foster said.<\/p>\n
Council President Joe LaCava was much more upbeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the right person at the right time,\u201d LaCava said.<\/p>\n
Bezak\u2019s confirmation as COO culminates a rapid seven-year rise in San Diego city government, during which she has gone from assistant deputy director in the Stormwater Department to the city\u2019s top administrator.<\/p>\n
Before coming to San Diego, Bezak worked as a consultant in the private sector and as a top official for the water and sewer agency that serves Washington, D.C., and its suburbs.<\/p>\n
Bezak, who lives in Pacific Beach with her husband, said her job comes with a responsibility to taxpayers in every decision she makes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must earn their trust through our actions and the results we deliver,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Bezak also said she will focus on social equity, including an ongoing city policy that prioritizes infrastructure projects in low-income neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
While some public speakers complained Bezak\u2019s salary is too high, Moreno contended that Bezak has the kind of track record that could land her an even more lucrative private sector job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego City Council members finalized Monday the hiring of a new chief operating officer and said the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,23,205,100,13,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-501689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-local-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}