Huntington Park : Police Chief Firing Upheld

The Huntington Park City Council voted unanimously last week to uphold the firing of Police Chief Geano Contessotto after a hearing in which Contessotto argued to keep his job.

The City Council suspended Contessotto June 22, pending a July 24 dimissal from his $4,949-a-month post. The council gave no official reason for the firing, but the next day Mayor Thomas E. Jackson said he and his colleagues had no choice but to replace Contessotto to “return the city to its prior stability.”

During a half-hour administrative appeal hearing last Thursday, Contessotto asked the City Council to reveal why he was fired.

“How can I intelligently respond without knowing the reasons why?” Contessotto said. “Once again I ask you: Why are you firing me?”

Jackson and City Atty. Steven Skolnik advised Contessotto that he served at the pleasure of the City Council and that it was not legally obligated to explain the dismissal. The hearing was Contessotto’s final administrative remedy, Skolnik said.

Contessotto’s lawyer, Hugh R. Manes, said his client will file suit next week to retain his job.

Contessotto, 40, and the 48-member police department have been under intense public scrutiny since December, when Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner charged two former officers with using a stun gun to torture a juvenile they had arrested.