WESTMINSTER : Council Reinstates Finance Director

Finance Director Brian Mayhew, fired last Tuesday by a narrow council majority, was reinstated Thursday night after several city groups and department heads asked the council to reconsider.

The decision was reached during a two-hour, closed-door session. Mayor Charles V. Smith made the announcement afterward, but the council then began its regular meeting without commenting on Mayhew, who did not attend the meeting.

Earlier, the council had said that Mayhew’s approach to handling the city’s finances was not conservative enough. They did not elaborate.

But Councilwoman Joy L. Neugebauer said that in voting to fire him, “I voted for what I thought would be the best for the short term and the long term for the city. We’ve always been a very fiscally conservative city and not a risk taker. . . . It was not an easy decision to make.”

Mayhew, credited by some city officials with rescuing Westminster from its 1990-91 budget deficit of $3.5 million and updating the city’s fees for services, worked for the city for nine months. He was previously employed by the city of Buena Park but left there last August after two months on the job.

At Councilwoman Lyn Gillespie’s request Tuesday, the council went into a closed session to discuss urgent personnel matters, aborting a planned study session on the city budget. After two hours of discussion, Gillespie, Neugebauer and Councilman Craig Schweisinger voted to fire Mayhew. Smith and Councilman Frank Fry Jr. voted to retain him.

“We made basically what I feel is a sound business decision,” Schweisinger said. “It was the consensus opinion . . . that we were treading in dangerous water” with a proposed bond issue.

But Smith said firing Mayhew was “unwarranted.”

“I was shocked by the decision the council made. . . . I was blindsided by it,” he said. “I think the guy’s been doing an outstanding job. This year was the first time since I’ve been here that the initial draft budget submitted to the council was balanced.”

So far, the city has received four letters supporting Mayhew, including messages from the city’s firefighters and police associations and several city department heads, Smith said.

“All those letters basically said the same thing: They requested that the City Council reconsider its action because they felt that Brian Mayhew was doing an outstanding job as finance director,” he said.