3 People in Week Shuffle Through Top City Job : Goverment: The leading candidate withdraws when the City Council appears divided

The City Council had to shuttle people in and out of the vacant city manager’s job last week after their top choice unexpectedly balked at taking over for fired City Manager William Vasquez.

The shuffle began Tuesday after the council met in a special session to appoint an interim city manager to replace Vasquez, who was fired March 12 after a year on the job.

Three council members--Mayor Frank B. Duran, Rosa Hernandez and Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia--were prepared Tuesday to hire former Lynwood City Manager Charles Gomez, sources said.

But when council members George T. Deitch and Josefina (Josie) Macias refused to join their three colleagues in a closed session to discuss the matter, Gomez went into the meeting and told the council majority he was not interested.

“I told them that they better get their act together and come up with a 5-0 vote,” Gomez said after the meeting. “Then I will come back.”

The council then unanimously appointed Finance Director David A. Bass to serve as acting city manager--for two days. Bass recently had submitted his resignation and departed Thursday for a new job. City Atty. Henry Barbosa then moved into the job until Monday, when the council is scheduled to discuss the matter again during its regular meeting.

Deitch and Macias, who had opposed firing Vasquez, said they were dismayed that Gomez had already met with Mayor Duran and some members of the community while Vasquez was still the city manager.

They also said they wanted more time to consider Gomez. “He may be the greatest guy in the world,” Deitch said. “But I haven’t even had a chance to talk to him.”

Vasquez, who was hired about a year ago when four new council members took office after a successful recall effort, had been under fire after clashing with Duran and Garcia the past six months on a number of issues.

But he had the support of the other three council members until he recently approved a generous severance check for former Assistant City Manager Larry Salazar, who was fired last month by Vasquez, reportedly under pressure from some council members. Under city policy, Salazar was entitled to two weeks pay, or about $2,300. Vasquez said he misunderstood a city ordinance and approved three months’ severance pay, or about $14,000.

After the severance was disclosed, Hernandez joined Duran and Garcia in voting to oust Vasquez.