Insurance Retrospective

In her Pacific City Signal, (http://pacificcitysignal.tumblr.com/) my friend, Jeanne Fancher, has been reporting on the Pacific mayor's dismissal of the city attorney and has intimated some concerns about the loss of insurance coverage. Here's a little "blast from the past" about insurance:

Back in the summer of 2001 the city's insurance carrier, Canfield and Associates, met with city officials and candidates to discuss city issues. This meeting was held after then-mayor Howard Erickson had drawn unflattering press coverage for causing the city to lose one of the two big insurance carriers for cities in Washington. (Canfield was the only other competitively priced insurer.)

At that time I was operating a Web site for all candidates, and on that site I included a report about what Canfield had told the officials and the candidates. Here's what I reported then, 11 years ago:

The city's new insurance carrier gave some pretty clear advice to the city council in a public meeting Tuesday, August 28: Get along with each other, follow established procedures and take your attorney's advice.

The city has already lost one insurance carrier, and it can't afford to be dropped by another carrier, Eric Homer, vice president of Canfield & Associates, Inc., told the council. Being dropped again could make the city uninsurable, or only able to purchase much less coverage at a far higher price.

Attending the insurance training session were Mayor Howard Erickson, Council President Karen McIver, Member Bernadine Harrison, and Rich Hildreth and Robert Smith, candidates for the council.

City Denied Insurance Three Times
After being dropped by its insurance carrier effective July 1, the city was turned down for insurance three times by Canfield & Associates before being accepted, Homer told those present.

He diplomatically but clearly stated what he expects of city leaders: "You're not going to fight on our dime." If Pacific is dropped by this carrier the prospects won't be good. According to Homer, "a two-time loser will be in a world of hurt to get insurance." 

He said his agency would be willing to hold a retreat for council members to help them learn how to work through disagreements. It's possible to agree to be agreeable even when you strongly disagree with another council member, he said.

Elected Officials Are The City

 
City council members represent the city 24 hours a day. They are always on duty, and they ARE the city, Homer said. They need to follow established procedures and they need to understand the limits of their roles, in order to avoid liability.

They also need to follow their attorney's advice. Homer said failing to follow procedure might mean that the insurance carrier won't protect them, and they could become personally liable in a lawsuit.

 An important implication of these comments still rings true today: Canfield insures Pacific with the intent of making a profit. It is not going to extend insurance if it looks like hefty payouts will exceed income.

If the city becomes uninsured, then the elected officials (who ARE the city) are unprotected from lawsuits, and only a fool would continue to serve, particularly in the current adversarial climate. In a nutshell: No insurance? No City.

One final comment here: If by "corruption" we  mean rot and the loss of integrity, I don't see how the election of Mayor Cy Sun has ended corruption. The disintegration seems to be continuing.