Yorba Linda Changes Code for Ousting City Manager

The City Council has made it easier to fire the city manager after an election.

The council eliminated a provision in the city code that limits how long the council must wait after a general election before ousting the city manager, and reduces the number of votes required to do so.

The new ordinance does not apply to the city’s current agreement with City Manager Arthur C. Simonian, but it will cover any future contracts it negotiates with him and subsequent city managers. Simonian has been city manager since 1972 and has had a contract since 1982. Several council members said they expect to discuss renegotiating that contract, which pays Simonian about $145,000 a year in salary and benefits.

“This contract was written by the good old boys,” said Councilman John M. Gullixson, who was first elected in 1990. “It’s a very gratuitous agreement, (and) we want to make sure we can change that in the future.”

The old ordinance required a four-fifths majority to terminate the agreement with Simonian. It also prevented the council from firing the city manager for 180 days after an election, gave Simonian the right to call for a public hearing if he were terminated and set a 60-day waiting period for the firing to take effect.

“This ordinance is the first step (in renegotiating Simonian’s contract) in the sense that we won’t have our hands tied if we do renegotiate,” Gullixson said.

The council approved the ordinance last week on a 4-1 vote, with Gene Wisner opposing the changes.