BUENA PARK : City Manager Gets New Contract, Raise

The City Council renewed the city manager’s contract by a 4-1 vote this week.

Council members agreed to give City Manager Kevin O’Rourke his first raise in five years and an expanded severance package. The contract increases his salary from $93,800 to $96,600 by January.

O’Rourke, 43, has been city manager since September, 1985.

Mayor Donald L. Bone said that during the past year, O’Rourke “has been blamed for everything under the sun.”

“He’s not perfect . . . (but) he is one of the best city managers in Orange County,” Bone added.

Three council members joined Bone in commending O’Rourke’s work for the city. “I think he’s done an outstanding job,” Councilwoman Donna L. Chessen said.

Councilman Don R. Griffin abstained from voting on the contract but declined to state why.

Resident Dan Wise told the council he did not think O’Rourke did “such a red-hot job” during the weeks when the city made the controversial decision to transfer its Fire Department to the county.

“I don’t want to be associated with this praise,” Wise said of the council’s resolution.

O’Rourke said after the meeting that his new salary is in line with other employees, who have been offered a 7% raise over a three-year period in ongoing negotiations.

He plans to concentrate on a three-year financial plan for the city over the next months. “We’ve gone through a government by attrition for the past several years,” he said. “We should be able to deliver 36 months of relative stability for the council and the city.”