Adoption of Resolution Commending John A. Russo for His Service to the City of Alameda as City Manager. (City Manager)
Well, I will. I move. Adoption of the resolution commending John E Russo for his service to the city of Alameda as city manager. All right, now discussion. You want to make comments? Thank you, Madam Mayor. Well, I would just like to say, and I think that many of us who know John know that, knows that he has a big personality which has enabled him to achieve some very big accomplishments in Alameda. And those were enumerated in the in the resolution and especially the conveyance of the Naval Air Station. We're going to be talking about that tonight and for some months to come. And your work with labor groups, it goes on and on. Suffice it to say that, John, you leave us better than you found us. And I know you're moving on to the city of Riverside, a much bigger city with a bigger population, bigger challenges, your equal to the task. And the city of Riverside is in good hands with you. And we'll miss you. We do have four speakers. Three have them speak at this point. Should we vote? Well, I think we're supposed to have public comment before. Actually, we do know. Well. All right. I'm going to go ahead and call the speakers Gray Harris, then Jeff Del Bono, then Helen Soares and then Dianne Lichtenstein. Good evening. I'm Greg Harris. I'm here as the co-president of the city of Alameda Democratic Club. I wanted to thank John and Alex. I'm going to do six A and B all at once in the interest of time for their service to the city of Alameda. I was formerly the president of the teachers union in Alameda. And during that time, the school district was going through some rocky times. The city of Alameda also went through some rocky times. And then John and Alex came. And the rocky times kind of evened out and smoothed out kind of like the school district is hopefully doing now. And now you're going to leave. So I am sad about that. But I also know that Riverside is lucky to have you. And we really appreciate all the time and work you have spent here. Helen Source most everything's been pretty well covered, especially in the resolution. But I just wanted to reinforce see a team that John is a symbol. This fine team of professionals have brought a high standard to our city, a high standard of excellence. His knowledge of how cities work and the regulatory process and expertize and guiding careful development to enhance our city, and most especially redirecting Alameda Point from our three times, going down the same rathole and teeing the city up for success with his strong start for actual development that will strengthen our economy for years to come. Credibility and address are social needs. What a big thanks. And I wish you and Alex all the best. And thanks to both of you for being such fine team leader sitting. Good evening, Diane Liechtenstein. I am not as eloquent as little Arnie Rich or certainly as a proclamation or as Helen. But I do know all the wonderful things that have been said about John. And since he has been here, he surely has propelled our city along. And I wish him and his family all the best. Thank you, Jeff de Bono. And thank you for waiting. And then I'll be Karen, be. Mayor, council, city staff. So I have one word quitters, but I'm going to do it in the efficiency of time. Two, I'm going to combine the both A and B, and I want to thank both of both John and Alex for their service. I think everybody knows the history with the firefighters here before they came. I know that for me and for every single guy that sits in the station, and I think I can speak for every police officer on the street. John and Alex brought dignity to city hall. They brought respect. And that's what we felt in the firehouse. And that's what we felt as employees here when they got here. The collaborative process, the mutual respect, we had to open communication. And it wasn't always easy at times. I know. I know sometimes. Like I told the guys in Riverside, when you have a problem with John, sometimes you got to work through Alex to get back to John because, you know, we don't always we don't always see eye to eye, but the mutual respect that was shown brought a lot back to this city. And I hope that continues forward. I think Riverside deserves deserves to have you, especially with how conservative it is down there. But I thank you again for your service. And Alex, I know that you reached out to the fire department personally and worked hand in hand with our fire chief and some of our employees, such as Jim Colburn, and really put the effort and time. And I don't know how to thank you guys. It meant a lot to us. It means a lot to us. And I think we've accomplished some great things here. I hope we can accomplish other great things that's unprecedented in the state of California in the future. Meetings coming up. But once again, thank you again, both of you guys. I consider you guys friends and thank you very much for your service. Evan Bayh. Hmm. That evening, Madam Mayor, the city council and Mr. Russo. I'm so glad that I didn't miss this part. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have been, I think, one of the best city managers we've ever had. And I can say that because when we took on the role as master developer, I really don't think we understood exactly what we were accepting. But you made it seem easy. You know, you knew just what we had to do. You knew how to negotiate the deals. You knew how to keep us moving forward. And that's what I'm used to. I've worked for developers for 15 years. And you have been an incredible developer. And I appreciate all of your hard work. And we're going to miss you. I'm going to miss you. And I wish you the best. Thank you. Thank you. Counsel comments. The other memory. And just want to echo a lot of what the public said. And I was having a conversation with a constituent earlier today, and she said to me, is it typical that we give proclamations and recognize outgoing city managers as like, well, it's not often that we have won leave voluntarily in recent times. So that's that's what was my first thought. But my second thought was, you know, it's not it's not often we're blessed with somebody of John's talents and skills here in Alameda. I remember talking to the then vice mayor four years ago when I first learned that you were interested in doing this job. And my apologies to Mr. Arnovitz. You know, my first comment was, well, if you can get Michael Jordan to come play for your team at his peak, then that's what you should do. And I think that's what we did. And not only do we get Michael Jordan to the Chicago Bulls reference, I'm sorry, that's where I'm from. Not only do we get Michael Jordan, we got Scottie Pippen with him. So we had an amazing team. And, you know. I'm so glad that I'm sitting in the seat now and not four years ago, because you've turned around the morale at City Hall. You've turned around. Now there's labor peace, which is very important, and you've turned around the city finances. And I'm really going to miss you, man. Wish you were here, but I know we're in good hands, so thanks. Member, De Saag. Thank you very much. Several days ago, on April 19th, the city of Alameda celebrated its 161 year, having been founded in April 19th, 1854. I think over that time, Mr. Russo and his tenure as city manager will stand out as one of the best, in my opinion. He took a city that was in disarray and put us in the right direction, not just internally within the walls of City Hall, but externally in terms of how we work with the community and how we work on major projects like Alameda Point, which was long stalled. I think history will be kind to Mr. Russo and also the city council's that he worked with Mayor Gilmore or Mayor Chris Spencer. And I think for your time here and also Mr. Nguyen's time here, Alameda is the much richer and I think your place in art in the chapters of it as is city hall. History is certainly going to be a good chapter. Assistant City Manager Liz Wormley. Did you want to be vice mayor? Sorry. I just wanted to say, I hope people understand just how difficult the job is. Appreciate. Your energy to that. And I wish you the absolute best in Riverside, and I hope you enjoy it. This one right now. Thank you, Madam Mayor. First, I'd just like to invite everybody tomorrow to our going away party that we're hosting for both Alex and John at the Elks from 5 to 7 p.m.. And we have some special treats for them. But everybody is invited. I also just wanted to say that, you know, 17 years ago I worked here as management analyst, as one where where I started my career in California. And and I left to go on to bigger, better things. And I always had an eye coming back to Alameda because I always lived I continued to live in Alameda, but there was never really an opportunity that I saw where I really wanted to be part of a team until I saw that John actually took the helm. And when I realized that he was here, it was an organization that I really wanted to be part of. And he has not let me down. John has brought transparency and accountability to city hall and accountability. And I really want to emphasize that. You know, in cities we have a. Employees, long time employees. And sometimes it's hard for us to accomplish the tasks that we want to accomplish. John brought that accountability to City Hall that I really have not witnessed in cities that I've worked with, and I've been in cities for 25 years. One of the things that people don't realize about John, I think everybody thinks he came from a large city and he had the large city mentality, but at his core, he really cared about the individual, the small guy. Oftentimes when we would talk about business transactions or with developers, he was always the hardest on the developers, on the people that had the big pocketbook. But on the little guy, on the small business, on the person who was trying to pull a permit, he always if he could cut not cut corner corners, because we're not allowed to do that. But that was his mentality was was to go after the big folks and actually do what he could and bend over backwards for the average citizen. And, you know, that's just I don't think people really realize that. And that's such a such a great gift. And and just I'd like to acknowledge him for that. I just want to say I'm really going to miss you, John and Alex both. Let me say a few words about Alex. It's hard to be to work with John. I think you all can imagine as a council member, Ashcraft has said, as he Ashcraft has said, you know, John has a big personality and. We've got Alex, who is sort of part of that partnership. And I think it's been Alex has always been at his side and has always provided, I think, to our staff council, the perspective of the average citizen. How would our decisions that we make here at City Hall affect the average citizen? And has really brought a perspective, I think, that really is unique to City Hall. So, Alex, I want to say thank you to you, to both of you. I wish you the best of luck. We're really going to miss you. And I'll do my best to fill your shoes. But as I'm sure everybody knows, they're quite big shoes to fill. I will do my best. And again, good luck. And I want to say a few words for those of you who don't know. When I was on the school board, I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Russo. We would regularly have joint meetings and he was always professional. And then during the campaign, very gracious and afforded really me every opportunity to learn what the city was about. He always took the time to to answer questions. And now, with the transition again, always professional. And I truly respect you as your work. And then you personally, what you bring to the table. I wish you and your family absolutely the best. And it really has been a benefit to our city to have you serve. And now we will vote all those in favor. I. Oppose. Motion carries. Unanimously. We're good to go. Thank you. All right. Next six be.