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Controversial colonel takes over as Morro Bay city manager

September 29, 2014
David Buckingham

David Buckingham

A former U.S. Army commander, who recently lost his post as the head of a base in Vicenza, Italy, is taking over Monday as Morro Bay’s new city manager.

In August, the Morro Bay City Council hired retired Army Colonel David Buckingham to become its new city manager. The council voted 4-1 to hire Buckingham, with Councilwoman Nancy Johnson dissenting.

Last year, Buckingham lost his position as the Army’s Vicenza garrison commander after a July 4 dust-up, in which he engaged in a verbal altercation with a military policeman. In the ensuing months, Buckingham tried to transition into a career in city management.

As Morro Bay was hiring him, Buckingham was wrapping up an employment dispute with the city of Bishop, Calif. The Bishop City Council hired Buckingham, but then backed out of the contract, prompting him to walk away with a $38,000 settlement.

In Morro Bay, Buckingham will receive a base salary of $160,000 a year.

He is the first full-time city manager to take over since the Morro Bay council majority forced out Andrea Lueker late last year.

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Mark my word, Col. David Buckingham will not stick around long enough to see his reputation impugned by the clowns currently running Morro Bay.

I guarantee he will move on very soon.


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So we hire a colonel that lost his post! Let me rephrase that. In the military you really have to be either be an idiot or have serious issues to loose your post. SLO City has hired plenty of staff who were pushed out of the military. One of those idiots contributed to millions of dollars in lawsuits against Santa Barbara due to his actions and the staff turn over since this idiot joined the City in his department has been unbelievable. The only people who stay and work for “Director Dick” as he is known as, are those that can’t find another job or that are close to retirement. Swift move heir Irons, now you have a little soldier that can care less about the rules. If the high command says do it – you do it and ignore the consequences.


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wineguyjc, you said it perfectly. He will fit right in with Irons. And idiot with serious issues.

Am thinking at this point the mayor of Arroyo Grande Tony would be a better shoe in here. We could have DUMB and DUMBER!


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Be careful what you wish for nurse!


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I was interested in in your post and was reading it until I got to the point where you spelled “lose” lOOse. I immediately stopped reading. Please refrain from calling people idiots until you can learn to spell a basic word correctly. Thank you.


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Perspicacious – -“having or showing an ability to notice and understand things that are difficult or not obvious”. Now that is a moniker of a self-ingratiating title reflecting an over inflated ego if ever. The interesting thing is that people who hold themselves out with self-absorbed titles are often the opposite blind, dull, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, shallow, short-sighted, stolid, stupid, undiscerning, unintelligent. Come on, really a typo is something that you gravitate too. So what, you are standing in front of the mirror stroking your over inflated ego now?


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I’m excited to meet Mr. Buckingham,

I’ll be at the meet and greet tomorrow,

moving forward for a new City manager is a good thing!

yippy for us,


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Let’s hope we in Arroyo Grande can say the same thing soon.


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Your crooked mayor in AG is our mayor Jamie Irons mentor. Good Luck. They are all in the same basket weaving class.


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I bet once you meet him and get to know him you won’t be yippying for anyone. The guy is a loser wlith a big ego and no experience or background running a City. He is already hated by employees. I give him less than 18 months.


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FV, hoping you have the top down on your convertible so you may take him for a drive through town. Afterall a parade would only be fitting for the next Chubasco under the inept leadership of Jamie Irons, Christine Johnsons and your fair haired boy Schmuckler.


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Your point is well made. Until you start bullying.


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don’t feed the trolls.


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fishing village why are we not surprised? LMAO. Your form of excitement and a social life, seems to be looking forward to the next city gathering of the fools you support.


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FV,


I think you have inhaled too much fish to think clearly. Some excitement!


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“Controversial colonel takes over as Morro Bay city manager” shucks I thought this was something about chicken.


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Colonel Sanders would have been a much better pick than this guy.


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yeah, he’s dead


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He fits right in!. We now have a mayor and council majority that have ZERO experience running anything!


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Seems like the Irons taint is spilling onto this new guy.


I woulda thunk the MB old guard, taxpaying, law-and-order, conservatives would be FOR an ex-military hard charging problem solver.


I think the cons need to give him a chance — he’s probably on their side. And if he’s not, they can sweep him out when they retake the City Council.


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.


Over hill, over dune

As we sing Iron’s tune,

And his Comrades go rolling along.

In and out, hear them shout,

Counter march and right about,

And Irons Comrades go rolling along.


Then it’s hi! hi! hee!

Morro Bay is no longer for me

Shout out your numbers loud and strong,

For where e’er you go,

You will always know

That his Comrades go rolling along.


In the day, in the night,

Action left or action right

See his Comrades go rolling along


Was it high, was it low,

Where the hell did our city go?

As his Comrades go rolling along

Was it left, was it right,

Now we won’t get home tonight

And his Comrades go rolling along.


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I believe he is retired military.

Is he receiving a military pension on top of the $160K?


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Of course!


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Advice, Don’t have a tea party after hours @city hall….


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The man at least has management experience, give him a chance before pouncing on him.


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“Management experience?” Well, true he DOES have bully experience based upon losing a command level military post. Why wait to “pounce” on a Bishop-reject second-stringer hand-picked by a bully and millions-wasting ass like Irons?


I say pounce on him from the starting gate, right smack-dab, shock and awe all the way.


If Irons likes him, he’s nearly guaranteed to be an underqualified toad yes-man, in the Irons/Smuckler race to the bottom of good government.


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Amen! LC


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“Management experience”? Hell, the kid running the Burger King down the street has “management experience” too, but would he be the right person to hire to oversee a complex coastal community with major political issues to resolve? And would you start him at a salary of $160,000?


And, please, you have to understand that the military chain of command is a world apart from the contemporary shared management culture of California municipal governance.


Also, let’s consider for a moment that California has approximately 500 cities with city managers. And most of those cities have upper-level staff consisting of various combinations of assistant managers, deputy managers, assistants to the city manager, administrative assistants, administrative interns, etc. Literally thousands of present municipal administrative personnel, ALL of whom have more experience in California city governance than this former Army colonel coming from Virginia. Any one of those thousands of possible candidates would bring at least SOME California municipal government experience to the Morro Bay job. But Jamie Irons and the Morro Bay city council ignored all of them and hired this guy from Virginia with no experience and started him at $160,000.


This guy hasn’t spent 10 minutes running any city government anytime, anywhere, much less here in California. An administrative intern- generally the entry level job in municipal administration- probably makes about $35,000-40,000 per year and is on the job working in a California city somewhere- in other words, with more experience than this guy, and at a fraction of the cost.


This guy is apparently about 50 years old, so there’s at least some potential maturity factor there. But, hey- of those thousands of California municipal administrative personnel mentioned above, there must be hundreds who are in that same age bracket too, and who have California municipal government experience.


This whole thing just defies any reasonable sense of logic or rationale. He might be a great guy- I have no idea. Do I wish him the best? Yes, actually, because, with that mayor and city council, he’s really going need all the luck he can get.


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Irons does not care. He only wants a puppet.


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I’m sure MB could have hired one of the municipal management people from Bell, Compton, or Vallejo. They are experienced! Just because someone has experience at something does not make them necessarily competent at it. Last time I looked, the main job of a City Manager was managing the personnel. A Colonel in the military does exactly the same thing and he had to have been pretty good at it to achieve his rank in what is arguably the most competitive field out there.

Don’t count this guy out, he may fail, but failure is not something you see very often in our military these days.


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The Military is shrouded in secrecy. The Military is not transparent. This guy will screw up because King James will convince him to hold secret meetings in violation of the Brown Act. King James tried it with the Ex City Manager and Ex City Attorney but King James was told he couldn’t do it so he fired them. This guy will let King James do whatever he wants.


Managing military men that have volunteered to serve their country does not equate to managing rank and file government employees. This Guy has absolutely no experience with FHEA, the Brown Act, the Davis Bacon Act, the Coastal Act, the FERC, the CEC or the RWQCB. This such a joke but so sad. We are paying more much more for less. How does that happen?


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Paying the same, and no medical benefits.


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The funniest (or saddest) part is is that we have Jamie Irons, Noah Schmuckler, and Christine Johnson who are ANTI military and have ZERO to do with supporting our military and or troops! Combined they have donated NOTHING in our county to help our veterans!


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But they do love Jane Fonda!


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“experience” Sure.


Manage local goverment experience, No.


Manage local California Goverment experience, No.


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LOL!!!!! Management of what? Never worked for a city in his life. Only the cream of the crop for us under Jamie Irons watch. Thinking ol Tony down there in Arroyo Grande is still giving our useless mayor advice.


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Maybe Nancy Johnson would be your pick for the job. She appears to have a lot of free time on her agenda.


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