Cerritos : City Manager to Contest His Dismissal at Public Hearing

A public hearing has been scheduled April 4 at which Gaylord F. Knapp, who was fired two weeks ago as Cerritos city manager, will get a chance to contest his dismissal by the City Council.

Knapp’s attorney, James G. Harker of Santa Ana, notified the city in a letter last week that Knapp would fight the dismissal on grounds that it was unlawful. Council members, meantime, have said that under the City Charter the manager serves only at the pleasure of the City Council. The manager can be dismissed at any time, council members have said.

Knapp, 48, was manager for 18 years and during that time was responsible for overseeing the city’s transformation from a dairy farming community to one of the most tax-rich suburbs in the state.

When the council announced March 7 that it had terminated Knapp, it issued a statement saying that, although it recognized his skills in planning and development, it believed that the city had moved well beyond its development stage and now needed a new kind of manager.

The hearing, which will be held in the City Council chamber, is set for 7 p.m.