City Gives Ex-Manager a $380,000 Send-Off

The Cerritos City Council agreed Thursday night to give its former city manager a going-away present of around $380,000. Gaylord F. Knapp, who ran Cerritos for 18 years, was dismissed by the council last month over what it said were policy differences. Knapp threatened to sue and demanded Thursday’s public hearing.

Hundreds of his supporters and opponents filled the City Council chambers, but the only discussions were held for two hours behind closed doors by attorneys for both sides. After the council announced that a settlement had been reached, a tearful Knapp told the crowd, “I may be the only one, or one of the few, who can walk out of here with his head held high.”

Council members said that they unanimously agreed to give Knapp more than the nine months’ severance pay his contract called for to save the cost of a court fight and end the strife caused by his dismissal.