City Official Loses Job in Consolidation : Government: The head of the redevelopment agency is replaced by the city administrator. The mayor says the action was taken to save money, but a councilman disagrees.

For the second time in four years, Darwin (Bud) Pichetto, executive director of Hawaiian Gardens Redevelopment Agency, has been replaced by the city administrator.

Pichetto’s contract was “mutually terminated” in a closed session of the City Council early this week, City Administrator Nelson Oliva said Wednesday. Pichetto was fired from the same post in 1988 and rehired in 1990.

Pichetto could not be reached for comment.

Oliva, who will continue in his current position, also will assume control of the Redevelopment Agency and be given a $1,000-a-month raise.

Some city officials said the two jobs were consolidated to save money.

“We decided that it would be beneficial for one person to handle both positions under one umbrella,” Mayor Kathleen Navejas said. “It is a savings to the city.”

Both positions cost the city more than $200,000 a year, she said. “It will be a savings to the city of about $88,000 a year if you include (Pichetto’s) car and benefits.”

Others say Pichetto was fired because he failed to perform his job to the satisfaction of the mayor.

City Councilman Domenic Ruggeri said Pichetto had been demoted and reported to Oliva for several months.

“It has nothing to do with saving money,” Ruggeri said. “They’d been planning on it for about six months.”

But Oliva said Pichetto “came in as executive director and left as executive director.”

Councilman Lupe Cabrera said he attended the closed meeting but left before the action was taken because “they were all yelling at each other.”

“I had no clue that they were going to fire the man. Otherwise I would have stayed,” Cabrera said. “(Pichetto) was a very honest man. I always found him nice to work with and very capable.”

Cabrera said the agency was $1 million over budget and Navejas was upset with Pichetto for not informing the city.

“You can’t just blame him. That’s our fault too. Mr. Oliva never told us either,” Cabrera said. “We’re all to blame. This was a just a perfect chance to get rid of him.”

Oliva said, however, that the agency is not over budget “to my knowledge.”

Combining the agency’s executive director position with that of the city administrator is nothing new in Hawaiian Gardens, Oliva said.

“There’s a history of the two positions being combined and it was very successful in the past,” said Oliva, who has served as city administrator for two years.