Anaheim Council Fires 3 Commissioners

Following an acrimonious debate, the new City Council majority on Tuesday flexed its political muscle and fired Planning Commissioner Bob Zemel, who finished third in last month’s council election, and two other commissioners appointed by the previous majority.

Councilman Irv Pickler, who led the ouster move, said the previous council majority had fired commissioners at will and saw no reason the new majority should not do the same.

“I’ve been on the council for 10 years . . . and this is not any different than what happened four years ago or eight years ago,” Pickler said.

He was joined by Mayor Tom Daly and Councilman Frank Feldhaus, who finished first and second respectively in the council race. That campaign turned somewhat nasty in its latter stages with Zemel and Daly exchanging various charges.

“There are almost 300,000 people in the city, and I think we can do better,” than the ousted commissioners, Daly said. “I made a pledge during the campaign to improve the quality of the commissions.”

Zemel, a local mortgage banker who was appointed last year to a four-year term on the commission, said his ouster was “purely political.”

A group of about 20 Zemel supporters booed the vote and one man shouted, “Welcome to the U.S.S.R.”

“Seven people got up and asked the council why I was being fired, and they wouldn’t give them a reason,” Zemel said. “Mr. Daly said he wanted to unify the city, but by this action he is doing the opposite.”

Councilman Fred Hunter, who led the previous council majority, said the ouster creates “a large chasm that will be with the council for a long time.”

“This action is not in the best interest of the city,” Hunter said.

Also ousted were Planning Commissioner Steve Bristol and Redevelopment Commissioner Steve White, who were not at the meeting and could not be reached for comment.

The Planning Commission, the most prestigious and powerful of the many city boards, reviews construction projects for the council.

The Redevelopment Commission makes recommendations to the council about construction projects in the city’s various redevelopment zones. All city commissioners are unpaid.

This was the second time in two weeks that the new council majority voted to overturn its predecessors. The new majority voted to overturn a prohibition on hiring private firms to do work currently done by city employees. The previous majority imposed the ban last summer.

The council majority changed when Feldhaus defeated incumbent Councilman William D. Ehrle, who along with Hunter and Councilman Bob D. Simpson supported Zemel’s tenure on the commission and the ban on privatization.

During the council campaign, Zemel accused Daly of having a built-in conflict of interest because of his job as an executive with a builders trade group. Daly, who also defeated the incumbent Hunter in last month’s mayoral race, heatedly denied the accusation and said Zemel was nothing more than “Hunter’s attack dog.”

In other council action, the council voted 4 to 1 to tear down most of the existing Anaheim Plaza and replace it with a 600,000-square-foot open-air shopping center. Spared from the wrecking ball will be Mervyn’s Department Store and Chili’s and Marie Callender’s restaurants. Daly opposed the measure.

Staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this story.