Lawndale Planner Quits for Job in El Segundo

Still recovering from an election crisis that nearly halted all construction projects in the city, Lawndale’s Planning Department suffered another blow last week when its director quit after less than two months on the job.

The director, Hyrum Fedje, left Friday to become building and safety director for El Segundo. He began work in El Segundo on Monday.

Fedje said he took the job in El Segundo because the salary is higher. “They offered a significant increase in salary,” he said. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.”

Before coming to Lawndale on Nov. 28, Fedje worked as director of planning and building for the city of South Pasadena. His salary in Lawndale was $51,672 a year. His salary in El Segundo will be $63,000 a year, officials in that city said.

Fedje said he applied to be director of building and safety in El Segundo at the same time he applied for the Lawndale position. But Lawndale offered him the job first and Fedje said he assumed El Segundo was not interested in him--so he accepted the Lawndale post.

‘Abominable’ Timing

City Manager Jim Arnold said he understands the reasons for Fedje’s resignation but said the “timing is abominable. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Lawndale is still recovering from a crisis that arose when voters on Nov. 7 rejected the city’s 1976 General Plan, which governs all zoning and development in the city. The vote--which was intended to resolve a controversy over the validity of the 1976 plan--left Lawndale without a general plan and, as a result, city officials temporarily halted the issuance of all building permits.

Last month, the state Office of Planning and Research decided to allow Lawndale to issue building permits for one year under the 1976 General Plan while the city works to draft a new plan.

State officials said that, before the city can approve discretionary measures, it must make a written finding that they will be consistent with the General Plan and current zoning. Those measures include action on rezoning applications, special use permits and zoning variances.

Arnold said Fedje’s resignation comes when city building officials are beginning to issue building permits on a regular basis again. He said the city has also recently hired a consultant to draft a new general plan.

Mayor Sarann Kruse said she was “excited” about Fedje’s skills as a planning director and was “most certainly unhappy” to hear that he had quit.

Councilman Harold Hofmann said he does not blame Fedje for taking the higher paying job but said, “It’s too bad we couldn’t keep him.”

Shortest Notice

He agreed that Fedje’s resignation came at a bad time. “I was hoping he would stick with us over this (state Office of Planning and Research) stuff and work this out once and for all,” he said.

Arnold said it is customary for city employees to give at least two weeks notice before resigning, but “this has to be the shortest notice I’ve ever heard of.”

He said Fedje was not obligated to give the city any notice before quitting. He said that it may take up to four months to find a replacement. Until then, Arnold said he will take over the duties of planning director.

Fedje said he would have given Lawndale more notice, but El Segundo officials asked that he begin work immediately.

“I hated to do it that way,” he said.

Arnold said the Planning Department suffered another blow last month when Senior Planner Felix Reliford resigned to take a job with a city in Northern California.