FULLERTON : Judge Says Proposed Initiative Is Illegal

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled that a proposed initiative that would have led to the firing of most of the city department heads is illegal and should not be placed on the November ballot.

Although enough voters signed petitions to qualify the initiative for the ballot, Judge Marvin G. Weeks ruled that employee matters should not be decided through the initiative process. The city, which had filed suit in an attempt to have the initiative declared invalid, was notified of the ruling Monday. The measure, circulated in 1988 by Fullerton Citizens for a Better Government, a group of residents, would have prevented top department heads in the city from holding their jobs for more than eight years.

If the judge had allowed the measure to go on the ballot and a majority of Fullerton voters had approved it, the initiative could have resulted in the firing of the city manager, assistant city manager, finance director, city attorney, redevelopment manager, personnel director and community services director. The dismissals would have been phased in over a period of five years.

Getting rid of long-term city employees and bringing in new people would have helped spur creativity and initiative among city department heads, said Armand A. Victoria, a Fullerton insurance broker who led the initiative drive.

“This particular initiative was not put together to target any particular person or city,” Victoria said. “It is a philosophical position. We should not have ‘jobs for life’ for people in managerial positions.”

Top city officials who would have been affected by the measure have held their jobs for an average of almost 10 years.

“The experience we have in our department heads is a great resource to the city,” Mayor A.B. (Buck) Catlin said Tuesday. “Throwing out qualified people is the absolute worst thing you can do.”