Pasadena : Car Allowance to Be Repaid

City Manager Don McIntyre has agreed to personally repay the city the $2,334 car allowance that was given to Deputy City Manager Ed Aghjayan without the approval of the Board of Directors. McIntyre said that when he hired Aghjayan in August, 1985, he promised him a $350-a-month car allowance, $150 more than other city executives received. McIntyre said he was unaware that board approval of the extra car allowance was necessary and decided to repay the excess out of his own pocket because he “didn’t want a cloud left over Aghjayan’s employment, the city or my professionalism.”

The Board of Directors this week approved a $100 increase in Aghjayan’s car allowance, bringing it to $450 a month. Jess Hughston was the only director who argued against the increase, saying that Aghjayan’s $450-a-month car allowance was far more than other Southern California government officials received.