ANTELOPE VALLEY : Council Pair Scold Mayor Over Late Agenda Item : Government: Frank Roberts is accused of adding city manager’s contract issue in hopes it passes without discussion.

Two Lancaster officials have accused the city’s mayor of trying to sneak an item onto tonight’s City Council agenda that would change the contract of City Manager Jim Gilley.

Council members Mike Singer and Deborah Shelton--both of whom were first elected in April--said they believe Mayor Frank Roberts slipped the item onto the consent calendar hoping it would pass without discussion.

“I was given an addendum to our normal agenda on Friday afternoon, late,” Singer said. “I didn’t read it at the time; it was just stuck in my file. I had no idea this was coming down.”

Consent calendars are part of the agenda often passed without council comment or discussion. Any item on the consent calendar, however, can be removed during the meeting for discussion.

Roberts said he added the item after the city attorney told him that Gilley’s present contract was illegal under new laws. So, Roberts said, he placed the matter on the consent calendar because he is required under the state’s open-meeting laws to discuss staff salary changes in public.

“Hey, this thing isn’t cast in bronze,” Roberts said. “We regularly pull 10 or 15 items off the consent calendar for discussion and this is no different. It will be discussed and cussed, I’m sure.”

Singer and Shelton said they were angry because they believe they have no part in deciding whether to retain Gilley, whose current contract with the city runs through August, 1998.

“I was really disturbed when I opened my packet and found that item added,” Shelton said. “I saw red, like I did when I was a citizen, and they used to always try and hide things when they added them onto the consent calendar. When I saw this, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, it’s happening again.’ ”

Roberts said Gilley’s performance is reviewed annually and a vote is held each year to determine whether he will stay another year.

Under the contract change, Gilley could be terminated at any time with 18 months pay if four or five council members were to vote against him, Roberts said. If just three members vote for his ouster, Gilley would be retained as a consultant for an additional 30 months, he said.

The current contract calls for Gilley’s termination with six months pay if four council members vote to terminate him, Roberts said. If just three council members vote to remove Gilley, his contract would be bought out with no provision for additional service, he said.

Council member George Runner disputed the claim that the last-minute item is a controversial issue.

“To me, we are dealing with a normal review of contract, and it’s not a substantial issue,” he said.