Coliseum’s Hardy Retires After Vote by Supervisors

The Los Angeles Coliseum Commission Thursday announced the early retirement of Jim Hardy as general manager after what two county supervisors said was a decision Wednesday behind closed doors not to renew his contract. Hardy, 63, had served for 13 years.

Named to succeed him on an interim basis was his assistant, Glenn Mon, pending interviews for a new appointee. Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, a member of the commission who was not present at the executive session Wednesday, said he had been informed by other members who were there that the decision not to renew Hardy’s contract came on a split vote. The vote was not taken in public session on grounds it was a personnel matter exempt from the state’s open meetings law, the Brown Act.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who was present at the session as an alternate, said some of the commission members “were not completely satisfied” that Hardy was the man to handle a planned expansion of Coliseum facilities that entails the sale of bonds and new parking arrangements.

Hahn said a second meeting was held Thursday at which a “fair settlement” was reached with Hardy and his attorney over severance provisions. It was announced that Hardy will serve as an “on call” consultant for the next two years.

Other sources said that commission chairman William Robertson and another member, developer Alexander Haagen, had spearheaded the move to retire Hardy.

Haagen, asked to comment on this, said it had been agreed at the meeting that Robertson, leader of the county labor federation, would make all public statements on the Hardy matter. Robertson’s secretary said he was out of his office and unavailable for comment.

Hardy was also unavailable, with his daughter saying he was away from home.

Hardy incurred Robertson’s wrath several years ago when he was critical of the deal the labor leader negotiated with the Raiders, bringing them to Los Angeles from Oakland. Hardy suggested that too much had been given to the Raiders to make the move.

But Hahn said this was not what lay behind the decision not to renew Hardy’s contract. Although he indicated there was a dispute over Coliseum parking, he said he did not think he should discuss it in detail because he had not been there for many of the meetings leading up to Wednesday’s decision.

Hardy was a quarterback for USC in the 1940s and a close friend of another USC All-American, Los Angeles City Councilman John Ferraro. Ferraro, who also has been critical of the Raider deal, said Thursday he was disappointed in the vote on Hardy and paid tribute to him as the person who was chiefly responsible for bringing the Coliseum out of the red and into the black in recent years.