Council Backs Demands of Black City Workers : Bias: The Pasadena city manager is directed to prepare a plan to remedy complaints. He says he has formed a minorities committee to seek solutions.

Pasadena’s black city employees found a receptive audience at this week’s City Council meeting, where they complained that supervisors gave them fewer opportunities to advance, disciplined them more harshly, and subjected them to racist remarks.

After two hours of heated discussion, the council directed City Manager Philip A. Hawkey to investigate the allegations and return next month--in half the time Hawkey had wanted--with a report that fully examines the problem and sets out a plan of action.

“I don’t want a report back . . . that all is well in Mayberry,” Councilman Chris Holden told Hawkey.

The Pasadena Black Municipal Employees Assn. initially aired the complaints last month, when Hawkey was vacationing in Greece. A lawyer representing the group said Monday that the employees blame Hawkey for allowing the alleged discrimination and suggested that he should resign or be fired by the council if remedial action is not begun quickly.

Meanwhile, Hawkey announced Monday that he has taken steps to calm the storm of employee discontent. Before he left for Greece, he formed an advisory committee of minority employees, which met Monday for the first time, to come up with ideas to improve minority employment opportunities.

The city manager urged the council Monday to give the committee 90 days to review the complaints and come up with recommendations.

“Give us a chance to see if that works,” said Hawkey, who acknowledged in an interview that “we should be doing more” to advance the careers of minority employees.

But council members Holden and Isaac Richard demanded faster action, saying they had talked with employees and were convinced that at least some of the complaints were valid.

“As we speak, blacks are being disciplined, suspended, laid off in a racist environment,” said Richard, who contends that Hawkey should be fired.

Hawkey agreed to report back Oct. 24, which satisfied the council. He also promised to look into allegations that supervisors had made racist remarks and unfairly disciplined black workers.

One supervisor reportedly referred to black employees as my “exotic” workers and called a black male employee “boy.”

Lawyer Joe Hopkins, who represents the black employees, said the group would hold off on calling for the city manager’s resignation.

“He got notice tonight that if things change real fast, he may have some time,” Hopkins said.

A handful of residents also attended the meeting to urge the council to refrain from firing Hawkey based solely on the allegations of discrimination. One of the residents, Albert Lowe, accused Hopkins of “playing the race card and causing racial cleavage.”

Clearly on the defensive, Hawkey called a press briefing before the council meeting to defend his record on minority hiring.

He noted that minorities now account for 56.1% of all full-time city employees, compared with 50.4% in 1990, when Hawkey was hired. He also said 74% of the 136 full-time employees hired last year were minorities.

But Hopkins later countered that black employees--about 405 workers or 25% of the city’s work force--are not making it into top-paying jobs in adequate numbers.

Blacks, for example, account for 52% of the city’s maintenance workers, but 15.9% of its administrators, according to a city report.

Hawkey said his new advisory group would consider career development, mentoring programs and other measures to encourage black and other minority promotions.

But Hawkey also noted that he had to walk a fine line to keep all workers happy. He said white employees had grumbled privately about the political pressure applied by the black employees.

“Our biggest challenge is having a diverse work force to serve this community well . . . and avoid the sense of competition (among ethnic groups) and barriers,” Hawkey said.

Richard, Hopkins and other minority leaders in Pasadena have viewed Hawkey with suspicion since he was hired over two black candidates to run Pasadena.

Hawkey’s previous job was as city manager of Toledo, Ohio, where he was also embroiled in controversy over minority hiring and treatment. Although Hawkey increased the percentage of all minorities in top administrative positions in Toledo, the city lagged in overall hiring of Latinos, an affirmative action specialist found.