SANTA ANA : Extension of Ream’s Contract Opposed

Councilman Richards L. Norton said Thursday that he will ask the council not to extend City Manager David N. Ream’s contract, which Norton described as illegal.

“We’re rewarding Mr. Ream for doing a bad job if the contract is approved,” said Norton, who rated Ream as an “average” city manager.

He maintained that Ream’s contract is illegal because the city charter states that a city manager should have an “indefinite term,” while Ream’s contract is for three years, ending in 1992. Ream had negotiated for the contract before he accepted the position as city manager in 1986.

In a closed council session two weeks ago, four of the city’s seven council members had agreed that Ream’s job performance should be evaluated. Mayor Daniel H. Young and council members Daniel E. Griset and Patricia A. McGuigan had refused to attend the meeting.

Under Ream’s contract, council members must decide by this March whether to extend the contract another year, until 1993. If they do not, he may remain on the job for two more years. But if he is fired before then, he would not receive severance pay for that additional year.

The city should not give Ream an extra year of money, Norton said.

“This is bad business,” Norton said. “If the council wants to get rid of the guy, we would have to give him a big check to go away.”

Ream, who has steered the city in several major development projects, including the multimillion-dollar MainPlace, said he will not leave if the council votes not to extend his contract.

“I will serve out the remaining two years. I look forward to remaining as an employee of the city until I finish my career in government,” Ream said.

Ream is the second council appointee to come under fire within months. Last November, Norton, John Acosta, Ron May and Miguel A. Pulido tried to place City Atty. Edward J. Cooper on a 60-day administrative leave, an effort Cooper successfully fought.