BELL GARDENS : City Manager Fired for Mismanagement by Council

The Bell Gardens City Council fired the city manager Friday, saying he has mismanaged the city’s operations, including its relationship with a casino that brings in 60% of the city’s tax revenue.

Four of the city’s five council members voted in a special meeting to terminate Charles Gomez’s contract effective immediately.

Gomez, hired in March, 1993, said that his dismissal is the result of a personal feud with Mayor Maria Chacon. “She’s been on my behind since I started,” he said.

Anticipating his dismissal, Gomez had sued the city in December. He alleged, among other things, that he was under City Council pressure to discriminate against non-Latino city employees who do not speak Spanish.

Councilman Frank B. Duran, who voted against Gomez’s dismissal, said Gomez’s departure is part of an effort by Chacon to take over the city manager’s job by shifting the duties to the council and mayor. The council recently commissioned a consultant to look into reorganizing the government of the city of 50,000, including the possibility of making the mayor the city’s chief executive.

City Atty. Arnoldo Beltran said that Gomez’s performance was inadequate in many areas, and that he did not inform the council of declining revenues from the Bicycle Club Casino, which last year contributed $9.6 million to the city’s $17-million general fund. Casino officials attributed the unspecified decline to competition from nearby card clubs.