Talley Tells Surprise at Ouster as Anaheim City Manager

William O. Talley, fired after 11 years from his $100,000-a-year job as city manager of Orange County’s largest city, said Wednesday that he was surprised by the Anaheim City Council’s action.

The 3-2 vote to oust him came at midnight Tuesday after a four-hour, closed-door session that council members said was marked by heated exchanges and harsh denunciations.

Talley had remained at the meeting until it ended and was called into the executive session several times before the vote was taken. He left quickly after the vote, saying only that “the council has exercised its rights under the city charter.”

While refusing to reveal what had been discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting, the 54-year-old Talley on Wednesday said the council’s action came as a surprise, even though he had been under fire from a new council majority ever since William D. Ehrle won a special election June 2 and aligned himself with two other council members opposed to Talley.

The council did not announce a replacement for Talley, who will retain his post until at least Sept. 1. The council also voted, by the same 3-2 margin, to require that Talley obtain permission for any city-related travel.

Talley had been criticized by the council majority for his management style and his handling of several lawsuits involving the city, including a dispute with the California Angels over planned modifications at Anaheim Stadium, the city’s lawsuit against the Anaheim Hilton and Towers and a recently settled dispute with the Anaheim municipal employees’ union.

The council split along lines formed during the special election when Ehrle made Talley’s performance an issue in his campaign and was supported by Councilman Fred Hunter and Mayor Ben Bay. Talley was also opposed by many city workers. But Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood and Councilman Irv Pickler strongly supported him.

Pickler said Talley had always obeyed the will of the City Council and called Talley “our own Ollie North,” a reference to the Marine officer who testified at the Iran- contra hearings in Washington that he loyally obeyed orders.

“For more than a decade Talley has been charging up hills for our city,” Pickler said. “This is one of the darkest days in Anaheim’s history. It was clear that the mayor, Mr. Ehrle and Mr. Hunter were not interested in Mr. Talley’s job performance but in appeasing politics and special-interest groups.”

Talley’s base salary of $101,700 reportedly made him the highest-paid city manager in Orange County. Under the city charter, Talley must be given at least 30 days’ notice of the council’s intentions, so he cannot be removed until at least Sept. 1.

Sheri Erlewine, Anaheim public information officer, said the amount of Talley’s severance pay and retirement benefits is subject to legal interpretation and must still be decided.

Erlewine said the council also has made no decision on who will replace Talley or whether there will be an interim city manager.

Several city employees expressed surprise, even shock, at the council’s action, although Talley’s fate has been a subject of discussion for months.

“We all are sort of walking around in a daze,” said one city worker, who wished to remain anonymous. “I knew it was coming, but there has been so much talk about it that you just put it out of your mind. I think the opinion is that people are glad that the issue has finally been settled.”

Sharon Ericson, president of the Anaheim Municipal Employees Assn., which represents about 500 city workers, lauded the council’s action and said dozens of workers have expressed satisfaction with the decision.

The union had sued the city over a job study and blamed the city manager for ongoing employee relations problems. The union campaigned for Ehrle’s election because he pledged to oust the city manager.

“This is a very big move for Anaheim, and we’re definitely excited,” Ericson said. “It’s been a long time since we had a City Council majority intelligent and gutsy enough to do this. They came in, recognized problems and took care of them. Anaheim deserves better leadership than Talley.”

Excluded From Discussions

Pickler and Kaywood charged that Ehrle, Hunter and Bay had surrendered to special-interest groups, which included the employees union. They also charged that the council action to fire Talley violated the state’s Brown Act, which deals with decisions made by government bodies in secret, because both of them were deliberately left out of the decision-making process. “I believe they violated the law because the decision was made prior to our sitting down to discuss it,” Pickler said. “Miriam and I were not involved in the outcome. Minds had already been made up.”

Kaywood also said Ehrle, Bay and Hunter had excluded the two from some discussions. “Three people have been meeting regularly without informing us. This is truly a conspiracy to overthrow the Anaheim city government,” she said.

But Ehrle, citing his overwhelming election victory, said the vote to oust Talley represented the will of the people and was not motivated by politics.

“This is a decision that had to be made in the best interests of the city,” Ehrle said. “The action taken (Tuesday) leaves a clear message that the City Council will be directing policy from now on. In the past, there were strong indications that staff and the city manager had taken over.

Handling of Project

Ehrle faulted Talley for the “disastrous” way in which information about the proposed Katella Redevelopment Project has been handled. Angry residents included in the controversial plan complained that they received letters about a public hearing on the same day of the hearing or not at all.

Ehrle also said that Talley had exhibited “personality conflicts” as the city’s negotiator in the dispute with the Angels. He said he would urge that the city do “everything possible” to resolve the issue.

City Atty. Jack L. White said Talley’s departure would have no effect on the city’s various legal disputes.

“There will be no effect on how we resolve the issues,” White said. “To the extent that Mr. Talley is involved in any legal issue, he would still be involved whether or not he is a city employee.”

Style Questioned

Talley, who became city manager in 1976, has been praised as a strong administrator, even while his style has been questioned. He has presided over continued growth in the city and oversaw the arrival of the Los Angeles Rams at Anaheim Stadium in 1980.

In 1981, he was honored by the 7,000-member International City Management Assn., being presented with its Management Innovation Award.

But his tenure has not been without controversy. In 1978, then-Mayor John Seymour attempted to fire Talley, saying he could not put up with Talley’s “strong-arm bureaucratic tactics,” but he failed to get a council majority to support the move. Later, he ended the feud and publicly supported Talley.

Talley was also investigated by the Los Angeles County district attorney in 1976 about his role in connection with the promotion of a Long Beach auto race. The investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.