Todd Gloria’s double-dipping interim chief may finally depart

Well over a year since the election of Todd Gloria along with a new city council controlled by Democrats, the Democratic mayor may finally be on the verge of picking a permanent chief operating officer.

An advertisement for the position posted online by the city says the job will pay between $300,000 and $400,000. The closing date for applications is February 25.

"The Chief Operating Officer reports directly to the Mayor and serves as the head of all operational departments of City government," per the notice.

“The COO is a critical leader in supporting the Mayor’s initiatives in strategic planning, personnel development, climate action, infrastructure rehabilitation, sustainable housing initiatives, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

“The COO is part of the City’s executive team and reports directly to the Mayor. The Office of Performance & Analytics and the Office of Race & Equity, both housed under the Mayor, are key partners of the COO and the three leaders work collaboratively on intersectional topics that impact city operations and policy.”

Before he took office in December 2020, Gloria told reporters that he would conduct a national search to fill the job permanently, but no action emerged.

Instead, Gloria named Jay Goldstone, controversial in some quarters for public pension "double-dipping," to fill the position on an ostensibly temporary basis.

"Though Goldstone said the city plans to conduct a national search for COO, no timeline has been set for how long he will serve as interim," the Bond Buyer noted in a February 10, 2021, account.

Goldstone, named San Diego's first-ever chief financial officer in December 2015 by Republican mayor Jerry Sanders, a Gloria intimate, wouldn't tell the publication whether he would seek the permanent position or when it would be advertised.

"Right now, my priority is to help the mayor get through the budget cycle; and then we will have some discussions because they had talked about doing a specific search," the Bond Buyer quoted Goldstone as saying.

Added the account, "Goldstone worked the majority of his career in government finance chief positions. He retired a year ago after working as a managing director for the public finance group in MUFG America's Los Angeles office from 2013 to January 2020.

"He joined MUFG after working as both San Diego's chief financial officer and COO. During that era under Mayor Jerry Sanders, Goldstone helped the city shift from a city manager to a strong mayor form of government, a process that also restructured most of the city's financial functions."

When he was the city's chief operating officer in 2012, Goldstone got a total of $319,322 in pay and benefits, per TransparentCalifornia.com.

According to his "taking office" disclosure of personal finances, required by state law, filed on January 6, 2021, Goldstone owned between $10,000 to $100,000 in Qualcomm stock and had received compensation of more than $100,000 as MUFG Union Bank managing director the year before.