Thursday, January 11, 2001 I'd save Long Beach $40,000   By Tom Hennessy Staff columnist Dear Henry Taboada: As Long Beach city manager, you no doubt encourage people to make sacrifices for the betterment of the community. Especially when those sacrifices have to do with saving money. As you often remind us, with the utility tax about to be cut, these are times when every buck counts. This letter is written in that spirit. I, too, am prepared to make a sacrifice that could save the city of Long Beach about $40,000 a year in tax funds. First, before you grab your phone to call me, let me introduce my newly formed company. Hennessy Consulting. I organized the company about 10 minutes ago while reading Press-Telegram stories I had missed during vacation. Those stories included your having awarded a contract to Kristy Ardizzone - or, more precisely, to her firm, Ardizzone Consulting. Now I know that in Long Beach, to paraphrase rock 'n' roll's Jerry Lee Lewis, there's a whole lot of consulting going on. But Ardizzone's charge is unique. According to the stories, she was hired basically to improve your image, a task which, however skilled she may be, is like asking a home remodeler to rebuild the Circus Maximus. Specifically, her duties include attending meetings around town and acting, in your words, as your "eyes and ears" in the community - somewhat as if your own eyes and ears are currently out of service; perhaps at the dry cleaner's or some such place. You have told the P-T that Ardizzone also is charged with gathering "intelligence" on your behalf. This sounds a tad like the sort of thing done by the OSS during World War II. It left me to wonder if the city had declared war on someone while I was away. I pictured Ardizzone, armed with maps, decoders and suicide pills, parachuting into, say, North Long Beach, then escaping to City Hall with the latest "intelligence" from a neighborhood association meeting. Arched eyebrows As you know, Mr. Taboada, some people are raising questions about this contract. But don't let that throw you. Not everyone sees you as I do; an urban modernist, poised on the cutting edge of municipal government and pioneering new administrative strategies, such as image-shaping and espionage. Still, however, there is a bit of a sticky wicket to all this. Ardizzone's husband, William, heads the Firefighters Union, one of the city's most influential labor organizations and one that negotiates contracts with your office. While this may not be of major consequence, it contributes to the connect-the-dot, cronyism image some cynics have of local government. Also, if I were a firefighter, I'd probably balk at having my union leader negotiate my salary with his wife's boss. Having said all that, however, let me get to the real reason for writing - and to the sacrifice I am prepared to make to save tax money. With Ardizzone's contract soon to expire, I ... er, that is, Hennessy Consulting will be glad to take up her duties at half the cost - thus the approximately $40,000 saving. I can do this by various economic measures such as using only one eye and one ear in the community. I am even willing to buy my own cloak, dagger and parachutes. Now, go ahead. Make that call. Sincerely, Tom Hennessy, CEO Hennessy Consulting Tom Hennessy's viewpoint appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He can be reached at (562) 499-1270, or via e-mail at Scribe17@aol.com