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Camille Barnett with then-mayor-elect Nutter, when he introduced her as his managing director.

READER FEEDBACK

City is still managing despite absence of director

By CATHERINE LUCEY
Philadelphia Daily News

luceyc@phillynews.com 215-854-4172

As city officials cope with the World Series and an unexpected SEPTA strike, one key person has been absent from meetings and news conferences - Managing Director Camille Barnett.

Barnett has been out of town on a previously planned two-week vacation. To some City Hall insiders, her absence during such a turbulent period is surprising. But Mayor Nutter said that solid advance planning meant everything was running smoothly.

"You can't run a government or have a government fall apart because one person is not there. That's absurd," said Nutter, who added that he saw no reason why Barnett should have returned early or canceled her trip, which already had been postponed once due to the budget crisis over the summer.

Compared with previous managing directors, Barnett has kept a low public profile. Many of the job's operational responsibilities - like managing traffic disasters or responding to fires - have been reassigned to the city's deputy mayors, while Barnett has focused on issues like the 3-1-1 nonemergency phone line.

Barnett, who spoke with the Daily News from New Mexico, said she has been in contact with her staff and had put plans in place to deal with issues like the strike and the Phillies.

"That's the advantage of getting ready in advance and having a strong professional staff. It shows the strength of this structure," said Barnett, who will return to work Monday.

Phil Goldsmith, who served as managing director under Mayor John Street, said it was always hard to go out of town while in that job.

"It's always uncomfortable when you're away; you never know what's going to happen," Goldsmith said. "I was scheduled to go on a trip to China which I canceled [in 2003]. It was in the midst of the mayoral election and I wouldn't have had a good time. I wouldn't have felt comfortable being away."

Goldsmith stressed that he didn't know the circumstances surrounding Barnett's vacation. "I don't know what was predictable when she went away," he said.

Barnett, who has held top city jobs in Washington and in Austin, Texas, was hailed as a new kind of city manager - one who would focus on government efficiency - by Nutter when he tapped her for the job in 2007.

She was hired at $195,000 a year, but this year she's set to make $178,555, according to payroll records, due to pay cuts taken by top staffers in light of the budget crisis. She has the sixth-highest salary in the city, and it is higher than the legally established maximum for the job. Nutter gave her an extra title to get around the cap.

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Comments

Posted 09:05 AM, 11/06/2009

larlib

yes she is a new kind of managing director aka no-work she is useless sets a bad example for everyone else, she doesn't care at all for the city and the Mayor.

Posted 09:20 AM, 11/06/2009

btruth

Who would miss her? She doesn't do anything meaningful. Her big claim to fame is the 311 system that doesn't really work. Are staff dog sitting for her?

Posted 09:32 AM, 11/06/2009

dreinterests

311 system works for me, perhaps you should learn how to use a phone.

Posted 10:54 AM, 11/06/2009

Wassup!

So this high paying executive gets out of the big responsibiities just so she can oversee a Mickey Mouse call center? How absurd. Sounds like she is underutilized (probably rightly so) and a waste of the taxpayer's money. Meanwhile, non-represented city worker's had to cancel their vacation back in July in anticipation of DC33 and DC47 going on strike? Preplanning is not the same as being on the ground when public safety events occur. Did the generals that plan Desert Storm go on vacation when the troops were sent in? I bet she was on a job interview!

Posted 06:01 PM, 11/06/2009

Survivorman

I think she needed the vacation. Her husband was killed in a traffic accident while moving to join her in Philadelphia last year. I can't imagine the grief - after a 34-year marriage - that she must still be dealing with.

Posted 06:25 PM, 11/06/2009

Wassup!

I take back my comments. I didn't know this. My apology to her.

Posted 09:48 AM, 11/07/2009

larlib

how does she have her job what's up come on mr. mayor we expected much more from you. what will it take for her to go why not turn her office into a dog kennel

Posted 10:02 AM, 11/07/2009

phillyphorever516

there is absolutely NO REASON she, or anyone in the government, should make more than $100,000 a year, and even that is pushing it.

Posted 12:07 PM, 11/12/2009

Philly Resident 19146

there is absolutely NO REASON she, or anyone in the government, should make more than $100,000 a year, and even that is pushing it.>>>And you expect the best and the brightest to work in City government? For 1/3 of what they'd make in private sector. Sure there's reasonable and unreasonable, but a $100,000 cap is well on the short side of that equation.