El Segundo : Safety Director Reinstated

The City Council voted unanimously this week to rehire McKinely (Mac) Dalgleish, who resigned as building and safety director last August because of “philosophical managing differences” with suspended City Manager Nicholas Romaniello. Dalgleish, who has been working as an independent building consultant since his resignation, will return June 1 to the $60,000-a-year post that he held for 14 years. The city had used a private consultant to issue building permits and oversee development while officials searched for a permanent replacement.

In accepting reinstatement, Dalgleish, 56, agreed to drop a $6-million lawsuit against the city that challenged his forced resignation in exchange for a $118,000 settlement to compensate him for lost wages and alleged defamation of character. The suit contended that Romaniello, who was suspended in April for purportedly trying to obtain confidential police reports about a City Council candidate, unlawfully terminated Dalgleish when he told him to resign or be fired.

Dalgleish is the third city employee to be reinstated by the City Council since the April 8 election. Earlier this month, the City Council rehired former City Manager Arthur E. Jones to replace Romaniello. Jones is expected to officially take over the $65,000-a-year city manager’s post in July because the Municipal Code prohibits the council from firing a city manager for 90 days after an election.

The City Council also rehired former Police Chief J. Clark Devilbiss, who retired from his $57,900-a-year job last December to become a professional masseur. Devilbiss will head the city’s Police Department on an interim basis while officials search for a new chief.