Interim Manager Relents, Accepts El Segundo Job on Permanent Basis

After politely rebuffing council members on at least four occasions, El Segundo’s interim city manager, Fred Sorsabal, has agreed to take the job permanently.

Council members, who have praised Sorsabal’s work since he came to the city in January, announced his hiring at their meeting Tuesday night. In an interview Wednesday, Mayor Carl Jacobson said Sorsabal agreed last week to take the job.

“He really wasn’t anxious for a while, but the city grew on him,” Jacobson said.

Council members have discussed salary with Sorsabal, Jacobson said, but the amount will not be disclosed until it is formally approved, probably at the next council meeting, July 5. However, several city officials said Sorsabal would be paid substantially more than the $6,000 a month he has been receiving.

Sorsabal, 50, was Costa Mesa’s city manager for 15 years before leaving in 1985 to spend one year as a Shrine potentate. He became El Segundo’s interim manager Jan. 4, replacing Art Jones, who retired after nearly 20 years in the position.

Although council members in recent months have sought applicants for the job--and received a number of inquiries--no one was interviewed. Meanwhile, Sorsabal was approached by various council members at least four times about taking the job on a permanent basis, but he told them he was not interested.

Sorsabal said Wednesday that he initially refused the job because he was not convinced that council members, as well as the city’s staff, were serious about working to solve the city’s financial woes.

In the past three years, the city has struggled to balance its budget and has been forced to dip into its reserves and limit spending in such areas as capital improvements. Although once flush with money because it is home to many industries, the city has struggled since 1982 when the local Chevron refinery lost a major contract and millions of dollars in sales tax revenues stopped flowing.

“I didn’t feel there were commitments to change both on the part of the council and the staff,” Sorsabal said. “ . . . I think now there is a sincere desire to make some drastic changes in the financial resources in the community.”

Under Sorsabal, the city has begun to develop a long-term economic plan that includes exploring ways to boost the city’s retail sales tax base. Unlike neighboring Manhattan Beach and other South Bay communities, El Segundo has no large shopping centers to generate sales taxes.

Besides working on the city’s financial problems, Sorsabal also has overseen changes in the city’s 65-officer Police Department. Only weeks after his arrival at City Hall, he hired a consultant to look into Police Chief Raymond W. Lewis’ leadership after complaints by some officers of inconsistent or unfair treatment.

Shortly after the study was completed in March, Sorsabal demoted Lewis to his previous rank of captain. Neither Sorsabal nor other city officials will release the consultant’s findings. Lewis has sued the city in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, claiming the city’s former mayor and other city officials conspired to demote him. The defendants have declined to discuss the case.

Although he has been with the city less than seven months, some city officials already credit Sorsabal with opening lines of communication at City Hall. They say he often can be found strolling the halls and popping in on workers to chat.