Ovrom Tells Staff It’s ‘Time to Move On,’ Sources Say : Burbank: City manager may resign today during special City Council meeting. It’s unclear whether his supporters or critics hold the upper hand.

Burbank City Manager Robert (Bud) Ovrom sent a computer message to his department heads Friday saying that it is “time to move on,” leading some city officials to conclude that he will resign during a special meeting today, sources said Saturday.

Ovrom has also met with at least one member of the City Council to discuss a severance package that would pay him between four and 10 months of his annual base salary of $129,193, other knowledgeable sources said.

If he were terminated, under most circumstances Ovrom would receive only four months in severance pay. But resigning voluntarily may enable him to obtain more.

Despite indications that he is prepared to resign, however, Ovrom could stay if he is able to muster a majority vote of support on the five-member council, which has scheduled an 11 a.m. meeting today to discuss his contract.

Although new council member Bob Kramer made Ovrom’s replacement a top priority in his campaign, Mayor Dave Golonski and Councilman Bill Wiggins are strong supporters and want him to stay. Council members Susan Spanos and Ted McConkey declined to comment on how they are leaning.

Ovrom did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment this week.

According to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ovrom met with a council member--who did not wish to be identified--on Friday to review the financial advantages of resigning to avoid the possibility of being fired.

The same day, sources said, he issued electronic messages to his immediate staff as well as the city’s top managers stating that he wants to move on with his career.

Ovrom has been a controversial figure during his decade as Burbank’s top administrator.

Best known for his work in luring new businesses to Burbank, Ovrom is credited with helping to build the Media City Center, a large shopping mall that has been touted as the anchor of a revitalized downtown.

Yet he has also been lambasted for investing $120.7 million of taxpayers’ money in a project that has yet to turn a profit for the city.

“Getting it built was his biggest accomplishment in the early years. The giveaways that went along with it later were probably his biggest failure,” said former Mayor Al Dossin. “It’s funny that the same project would be both.”

Kramer, who was sworn in to the City Council on Monday, accentuated the negatives of that project during a political campaign that called for overhauling city government, starting with Ovrom.

He blamed the city manager for mishandling redevelopment deals he said gave too many concessions to developers at taxpayers’ expense, including the Media City Center and the Burbank Airport Hilton.

Kramer has also aggressively pursued a laundry list of other agenda items, such as replacing Brian Bowman as a Burbank Airport commissioner. Bowman resigned Tuesday, citing conflicts with a new majority on the City Council opposed to airport expansion.

Should Ovrom resign, Kramer said he would ask Assistant City Manager Steve Helvey to take his place while the council conducts a statewide search for a new administrator.

“The City Council will take its time to select a replacement,” Kramer added. “Steve Helvey is extremely capable and can easily run the city.”

Today’s meeting will take place in the Burbank Fire Training Center, located at 1845 N. Ontario St. The council will meet first in closed session and is expected to publicly announce a decision on Ovrom’s future soon afterward.

Ovrom, 49, became Burbank’s city manager in 1985 after spending more than a decade in municipal government, first as an assistant city manager in Simi Valley and later as city manager in Monrovia and Downey.

He was ushered into Burbank by a new majority on the council that was eager to replace his predecessor, Andy Lazaretto.

The difference then, said former Mayor Mary Lou Howard, was that the need to replace Lazaretto was shared by virtually everyone who worked for the city. The urge to replace Ovrom, she added, seems to be driven by one faction on the City Council.

Critics contend that Ovrom is quick to get rid of anyone on his staff who disagrees with him and has been more “political” than even members of the City Council, who are elected officials.

Yet he is described by those who work for him as an effective administrator who raised salaries for top- and mid-level city employees. He is also known for being so driven in his work that he carries a fax modem with him on vacation.

“Under his leadership, the town began to flourish,” said one supporter, Burbank Police Lt. Don Brown. “He has done nothing to be removed without cause. He takes his direction from the City Council.”