Fired Police Chief’s Settlement Revealed

Former National City police chief Terry Hart has received an $80,000 cash settlement and a tax-free disability pension for life as part of an agreement that he reached with National City officials after his 1988 dismissal, his attorney said Friday.

Everett Bobbitt, who represented Hart in a lawsuit he filed against the city, said the agreement was reached before Hart’s firing became effective last April 24. Details of the agreement were not made public until this week, when a Superior Court judge ordered National City officials to make terms of the secret agreement public.

The judge acted after attorneys for the San Diego Union-Tribune sued to force the city to disclose the terms of the settlement that officials negotiated with Hart.

“I never had problems talking about the settlement. But the agreement with the city prevented us from discussing it,” said Bobbitt.

Pension for Life

According to Bobbitt, National City officials agreed to pay Hart $80,000 last April 24 and guaranteed him a lifetime, tax-free disability pension. Bobbitt said he does not know how much the pension is worth, but that it amounts to half of the $67,000 salary that Hart was drawing at the time.

National City Mayor George Waters was not available for comment. However, he was quoted earlier as saying that the City Council will probably pass a resolution Tuesday authorizing the release of terms of the agreement.

Hart was unavailable for comment.

Bobbitt said the agreement guaranteed that Hart could began drawing a disability pension any time after his firing became final. Hart was fired by City Manager Tom McCabe for not being a “team player,” Waters said in a 1988 interview. There was no mention made of a disability at the time.

Bobbitt said state law permits a city employee to draw a disability pension if city officials choose not to contest it, whether or not the employee has been found to be disabled by doctors.

No ‘Bad-Mouthing’

The attorney would not say if Hart has begun drawing his pension. “That part of the agreement will be kept confidential. It’s up to him to (officially) retire when he wants. That’s part of the agreement,” said Bobbitt.

Included in the agreement, is an understanding that National City officials will not “bad-mouth” Hart or undermine his efforts to obtain another job, Bobbitt said. Hart also guaranteed not to speak negatively of the city and its officials, he added.