City Council Gives Housing Chief the Ax : Government: Evan E. Becker, director of San Diego’s Housing commission, is stunned by the unexpected decision not to renew his contract.

The stormy relationship between Evan E. Becker, head of San Diego’s housing commission, and the City Council reached a climax Monday as the council voted unanimously not to renew his one-year contract.

The action, taken almost without debate, was unexpected and stunned the housing commission executive director. Becker was clearly shaken after the brief ritual of dismissal and refused to answer reporters’ questions.

“I really don’t have anything to say,” Becker said as he waited for the elevator.

However, he told The Times that he had not expected to be terminated when he arrived for Monday’s afternoon council meeting. The council was acting as the city’s Housing Authority when it voted not to renew Becker’s contract, which expires July 31.

Becker, paid $93,696 a year, was hired in 1988 after a nationwide search by city officials. As head of the commission, he oversaw 235 employees and an annual budget of $90 million.

The council also stripped Becker of all supervisory authority. In both actions, the council was acting on the advice of attorney Josiah L. Neeper, a consultant to the city on labor matters.

In explaining his recommendation to the council, Neeper said it was to the city’s advantage to not renew Becker’s contract rather than to fire him outright. That way, council members are not legally required to give Becker an explanation for his dismissal, Neeper said.

The council also adopted a third recommendation by Neeper, that Becker be forced to take any vacation or leave time that he has coming before the last day of his contract, in order to keep him out of the commission’s offices as much as possible.

After the council hearing, Neeper refused to say why he recommended that Becker’s contract not be renewed or if the council had asked him to review the possibility of terminating Becker’s contract.

Becker tried unsuccessfully to force council members to give him a reason for their decision.

Becker had his first major run-in with the council two years ago when he supported a proposed housing deal involving a reputed mobster. It was no secret that Becker drew Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s wrath when he strongly backed a plan in 1990 to buy two apartment complexes owned by reputed mobster Alvin I. Malnik. The buildings, in Clairemont and Rancho Penasquitos, were to be purchased for $38.5 million and renovated as low-income housing.

O’Connor had accused Becker and the commission staff of hiding Malnik’s role in the deal and of not being forthcoming about details of the sale. The deal eventually fell apart.

On Monday, Councilman Bob Filner, who had supported the deal with Malnik in Oct., 1990, criticized Becker for not being open with the council in the past. Filner also said that Becker should not have been surprised about his contract.

“We’ve had discussions about this for the past seven months in closed session,” Filner said in a brief meeting with reporters after the council’s action.

None of the council members offered specifics to explain their decision.

“This (Becker’s dismissal) came up last year. This is not a new subject,” O’Connor said. “We have been discussing the problems of the (housing) authority and commission for a long time, but today was when we decided not to renew” Becker’s contract.

O’Connor and other council members failed in a bid to fire Becker in 1991, when city attorneys advised them that they needed to give Becker more notice before ending his contract.

Becker argued in vain Monday that the council’s action was illegal when he repeatedly told council members that they had never evaluated his performance as executive director of the commission.

“I understand your right not to renew. . . . But this motion (to end the contract) is a violation of my employment agreement,” Becker said. “I will say to you again that I haven’t been evaluated by this body. If any of you feel that I have, I would like to see that evaluation.”

After the council’s action, O’Connor told reporters that Becker had been evaluated in private “personnel and executive sessions” with council members.

Councilman George Stevens added that Becker “has been well aware of the concerns of the council.”

Although Becker’s contract expires at the end of July, Stevens said Becker could stay with the commission until Sept. 30, because his contract requires the city to give him a 60-day notice on July 31.

Initially, Becker was to meet with the council in closed session Monday, where he was to be notified that his contract was not going to be renewed. The issue was not listed on the agenda as an item for public discussion.

However, sources said that, shortly before the afternoon session was to began at 2 p.m., Becker realized that he was probably going to be dismissed and demanded that the issue be discussed in public.

Before coming to San Diego, Becker held several management positions with the Norfolk, Va., Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He replaced Ben Montijo, who was fired in 1987 after allegations that he improperly put together a favorable financial package for a local developer to renovate a Southeast San Diego apartment complex that was used for low-income housing.