Lewis Pleads in Vain to Get City Manager’s Job Back : Government: Ousted official cites his achievements at a public hearing but can’t sway the City Council. : MONTEREY PARK

Ousted City Manager Mark Lewis, armed with a briefcase full of documents, interoffice memorandums and a videotape, tried to get his job back Tuesday.

He failed.

“As your city manager for the last three years I’ve been doing a good job in a very difficult city, in a work environment that has been near chaotic,” Lewis told the City Council during a hearing he requested to challenge his July 22 firing.

When the three-hour public hearing was over, the council voted 3 to 2 to confirm its decision to discharge the 40-year-old Lewis. His ouster will take effect Wednesday, after a 30-day suspension imposed by the council.

“My conscience is perfectly clear,” Councilwoman Judy Chu said before casting her vote against Lewis. She was joined by Marie T. Purvis and Mayor Betty Couch. “Clearly, Mr. Lewis doesn’t see there are problems in City Hall. He thinks everyone is perfectly happy.”

The city faces a $10-million claim filed by Lewis alleging that some council members met secretly to discuss his ouster. Lewis also contends that council members defamed and slandered him.

In his defense, he played a videotape of a March 11 council meeting during which Chu threw her support behind him. He also claimed that Couch illegally lobbied city employees on a proposed development project. And he accused Purvis of trying to derail his affirmative action efforts. Couch and Purvis refused to comment Tuesday but have in the past said Lewis’ charges are unfounded.

Lewis also read to the council a long list of his accomplishments during his tenure in Monterey Park, most notably, his efforts to hire and promote minorities at a time when the city was experiencing rapid demographic changes.

“I love Monterey Park,” he said. “It breaks my heart to see the community so divided.”

But as the evening wore on, it was clear the odds were against him. Residents, city commissioners and former council members blamed him for a poor management style that caused low employee morale and the resignations of several department heads. They also accused him of violating city codes and claimed that he took an overly aggressive approach to affirmative action that only served to divide the work force.

Many said Lewis catered to the Chinese community, especially in hiring practices, at the expense of other ethnic groups.

“Mark Lewis did not serve the community of Monterey Park,” resident and former council member Irv Gilman said. “He served one of the communities of Monterey Park.”

Another resident, Jeff Su, took offense at Lewis’ reputation as a “friend of the Chinese.”

“We in the Asian community are quite capable of saving ourselves, thank you,” Su said, alluding to an Aug. 2 AsianWeek article which says Lewis has been nicknamed the “Yellow Savior.” “We don’t need to be used as a political pawn.”

But several people supported the city manager.

“I have seen the city change to such an extent it gained national recognition,” Dorothy Ko said. “Mark Lewis is one of the few people professionally competent to handle those changes. How many city managers have such a record?”