Democratic Citizen Accountability Program Suspended at City Hall: No Explanation Given

Once Popular 'Coffee With the City Manager' Program Suspended 

Emeryville Citizens Used to Be Able to Speak Directly With Their City Manager Under the Program

No Longer

Emeryville’s new City Manager, La Tanya Bellow announced she would not be re-starting the former citizen engaging ‘Coffee With the City Manager’ program after having pondering over it during the first 100 days of her job as city manager.  The democratically minded program was discontinued in 2020 because of Covid but before that, the popular program enabled normal citizens to engage face to face with the most powerful government official at their City Hall.  Ms Bellow told the Tattler that while she has shuttered the Coffee Program indefinitely, she is not necessarily averse to someday re-starting it.  She did not say why she would not meet with citizens through the program.

Emeryville City Manager
La Tanya Bellow
Not a fan of transparency or 
citizen engagement. 

The government in Emeryville has long made proclamations regarding the inclusionary and democratic existential nature of City Hall and they proved it in 2014 when the popular program was initiated under former City Manager Sabrina Landreth.  Under the program, citizens could just drop by without making an appointment and speak freely with the city manager in the city manager’s office during the three hour period once a month.  

Despite ending the once a month citizen engagement, Ms Bellow, who makes $315,0000 per year, has made statements touting her approachability for regular people.  Before her hiring in January, she told the City Council she was a “committed public servant” who could be counted on to lead Emeryville’s government “with transparency, with integrity and with collaboration…with the members of this community”.  That may have been what she was thinking at the time but after settling in at her Park Avenue corner office, apparently she seems to have had a re-think.




Lack of accountability has a long tradition at Emeryville City Hall.  Before the democratically minded City Manager Landreth, Emeryville’s City Manager John Flores, for years, regularly scheduled closed-to-the-public meetings in the city manager's office with the Chamber of Commerce board president, every Monday morning at 9:00 to discuss anything that the Chamber, a private corporation, wanted to discuss.  The Chamber of Commerce, who received large amounts of money and favors from City Hall, likely discussed that and more at these regularly scheduled private meetings in the City Manager’s office.   

Former City Manager 
Sabrina Landreth
She had a democratic view
of government.  She liked to 
hear from regular citizens.

Uncomfortable with the lack of accountability and transparency, the Tattler suggested that perhaps regular people should also have a regularly scheduled time to interface one-on-one with their government.  The idea was forwarded that every month, regular citizens could freely express their ideas, suggestions or complaints directly to the city manager at their seat of government.

Although the secretive John Flores was not fond of that idea and he refused it, the democratically inclined Sabrina Landreth agreed with the Tattler and she began the program that ultimately became very popular with Emeryville citizens.  Notably, the Emeryville Police Department initiated its own "Coffee With a Cop' program patterned after the success of the city manager program, building it into their 'community policing' policy.  EPD still continues on the popular program.


The Coffee With the City Manager Program continued until Covid and the manager at the time, the former Paul Buddenhagen, did not restart it after Covid had passed, regardless of citizen requests.  Ms Bellow continues on with the refusal, despite all her highfalutin citizen engagement rhetoric.  

After she was hired, the Tattler inquired about Coffee With the City Manager and Ms Bellow indicated she would decide and make an announcement about it in the “first 100 days” of her administration. Announcing her refusal to re-start the program, she assured the Tattler she is “focused on meeting the community where they are to foster a more inclusive and responsive dialogue” after noting that her contact with the Tattler was a violation of the City Attorney’s order that no government officials may communicate with the Tattler in any way.  “I am making this one time exception” she said. 

Emeryville City Manager Announces He's Quitting

 Paul Buddenhagen Lasts Less Than Two Years as Emeryville City Manager

Is City Hall Dysfunction a Reason For His Departure? 

And so another Emeryville City Manager bugs out.  

Paul Buddenhagen announced to the people of Berkeley yesterday he will be leaving his Emeryville job where he’s been for less than two years, to take up the position of Berkeley City Manager.  While he will take a much larger salary than the $280,000 he receives in Emeryville, that fact was not mentioned as a contributing factor.   Mr Buddenhagen is familiar with Berkeley, having served as Berkeley’s Deputy City Manager before his Emeryville stint.

During his short stint in command at Emeryville, Mr Buddenhagen’s governing style dovetailed with the City Council majority.  One of his first acts was to close down Emeryville’s formerly popular ‘Coffee With the City Manager’ program that invited average citizens to come to City Hall to freely ask questions and solicit ideas.  Coffee With the City Manager has been a once a month scheduled event since 2015 (with a break during Covid), started by then Manager Sabrina Landreth.  Every Emeryville City Manager up until Paul Buddenhagen continued on with the tradition. 

Paul Buddenhagen
Emeryville's newest former City Manager.
Despite a guiding philosophy matching the 
City Council majority, he departs in September.

 

The curtailing of citizen engagement has not happened in a vacuum.  The City Council majority, led by the two termer John Bauters, has largely forgone accountably, commanding a government famously unresponsive to its constituents.  Mr Bauters and now Mayor Courtney Welch have tightly controlled citizen participation, disallowing constituents or the local press access.  Unlike previous Council members, they are not available - not by phone, emails or any other venue.  The only way the Tattler has been able to get any answers to questions at all from Mr Bauters has been as a result of rushing him with our camera as he is caught in public.  Mr Buddenhagen has also governed with a ‘no public access’ policy, probably taking his cues from Mr Bauters.  Notably, two Council members do make themselves available to answer constituent’s questions, Vice Mayor David Mourra and Council member Kalimah Priforce.

Mr Buddenhagen has managed City Hall with an illiberal undemocratic guiding philosophy with timidity as a default.  In response to a man with a camera, he permanently closed down more than 90% of the people’s building in 2023.  More recently he closed down the popular Zoom capability for citizens to remotely speak at meetings because of some Nazis who had called in with racist comments. 

While it is compelling that the City of Berkeley is offering Mr Buddenhagen more money than Emeryville is willing to pay, we can’t be sure that's the only or even the primary reason for his leaving.  For the last two years, the Council, controlled by Mr Bauters and gladly taken up recently by Ms Welch, has been a locus of uncivil and boorish behavior.  Recriminations are routinely handed down from the dais against citizens as well as against the dissenting Council member Priforce.  The dysfunction and turmoil may have contributed to Mr Buddenhagen’s decision to depart.  

City Manager Buddenhagen will leave for Berkeley in September.  He did not answer calls for this story.

City Manager Will Not Re-Start Regularly Scheduled Meetings With Citizens

Formerly Popular 'Coffee With the City Manger' Program Cancelled Indefinitely

Emeryville’s City Manager, Paul Buddenhagen, has decided to not re-start the popular ‘Coffee With the City Manager’ public events conducted once a month at City Hall before the pandemic, at least for the time being.  The one hour, open-to-the-public sessions were conducted monthly in the City Manager’s office until 2020, allowing citizens to freely interact with and ask questions at the seat of government power in Emeryville.   The program was started in 2014 and continued on for about six years, initiated by then City Manager Sabrina Landreth in response to a Tattler challenge.  Mr Buddenhagen has refused to say if he will bring the program back someday.

Emeryville City Manager Paul Buddenhagen
Democracy can be messy and uncomfortable.
He has not said if he will ever re-start the 
once popular coffee events.

Before Ms Landreth, Emeryville’s City Manager John Flores, for years, regularly scheduled meetings with Emeryville private citizen, the power broker and Chamber of Commerce Board member, John Gooding every Monday morning at 9:00 for one hour to discuss anything on Mr Gooding’s mind.  The content of those years of meetings were off record and kept strictly private.  Uncomfortable with the lack of transparency of that, the Tattler suggested that perhaps regular people, ALL people should also have a time to interface one-on-one with their government.  The secretive Mr Flores was not fond of that idea and he refused it but the democratically inclined Sabrina Landreth agreed and she began the program that ultimately became very popular with Emeryville citizens.  

Every City Manager from Sabrina Landreth up until the pandemic either liked the idea of the Coffee With the City Manager or they felt it would be too costly politically to stop the popular program.  The pandemic appears to have provided the perfect, if quiet reset to secrecy at City Hall for Mr Buddenhagen.   

Mr Buddenhagen has shown himself to be prone to secrecy in his job.  He closed off most of City Hall to the people following a moral panic because of a man with a camera in 2023.  He has refused to say if the people's hall will ever be open to the people again.

The Police Department re-started their ‘Coffee With a Cop’ program after also ending it during the pandemic.  The police coffee program was also started up in 2014, inspired by the ‘Coffee With the City Manager’. 

Ms Landreth, arguably the most progressive City Manager in Emeryville history, famously exalted “A transparent government is an accountable government” as she welcomed people into her office at the opening of her first meeting with the citizens.   

'Coffee With the City Manager' Events Announced

From the City of Emeryville:

Emeryville City Manager
Sabrina Landreth

In an effort to promote citizen engagement, City Manager Sabrina Landreth will be holding a series of open office hours called, ‘Coffee with the City Manager’. This is aimed at enabling conversations with residents and businesses to discuss topics of their choice. In addition to topics brought by the public, Sabrina will also provide updates on pending issues being discussed by City Council and a variety of other topics. 

All, 'Coffee with the City Manager', events are open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

The events will be held at the City Hall, 1333 Park Avenue from 12 noon – 1pm.

Schedule  for 'Coffee with the City Manager',  through 2014

•Thursday, October, 23rd

•Thursday, December 11th

Please contact Serenity Mlay by calling 510-450-7801, should you have any questions