Judge Reinstates Yorba Linda’s Fired City Manager

The political brawl between the Yorba Linda City Council and its former city manager took another wild twist Tuesday when a Superior Court judge ruled that the administrator was improperly fired last September.

The judge reinstated Arthur Simonian as a city employee, although he will remain on paid administrative leave until the bitterly divided council can decide his fate--an issue that could remain unsettled until 2001.

Simonian stands to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation in the meantime.

Superior Court Judge John C. Woolley declared that the council’s 3-2 vote to fire Simonian violated state law.

Simonian, who served as Yorba Linda’s city manager for 27 years, should have received written notice 24 hours in advance of the meeting, and then been given the opportunity to respond at a public hearing, Woolley said.

“The court finds the termination null and void,” Woolley said. “Unless appealed, Mr. Simonian is an employee of the city.”

The council dismissed Simonian on Sept. 7 after an audit conducted by the city’s special investigator accused him of financial malfeasance.

The audit found that Simonian had awarded himself annual bonuses of as much as $14,000 and collected other perks without the City Council’s approval or knowledge, including a 1997 BMW 540i he leased at city expense.

The Orange County district attorney’s office reviewed the allegations but determined there was insufficient evidence of criminal wrongdoing to bring charges. Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Lubinski said the perks appeared to fall within the extremely broad terms of Simonian’s employment contracts.

Woolley’s ruling Tuesday did not reverse the council’s Aug. 16 decision to place Simonian on administrative leave. But the judge said the council must send a written notice to Simonian if it intends to fire him.

A majority vote to formally reinstall Simonian or to fire him is unlikely, said Mayor John M. Gullixson, who led the campaign for his dismissal. The day after Simonian was fired, councilman Gene Wisner retired to Michigan, leaving behind a council that remains split 2-2 on Simonian’s status.

The deadlock could be broken March 7, when the city is scheduled to elect a fifth council member. But that might not be the end of it.

Simonian’s employment contract, and the Yorba Linda city code, states that a city manager cannot be fired for 120 days after an election.

After the special March 7 election, however, city voters may be asked to go to the polls in the late spring or early summer to decide whether Gullixson should be recalled. Simonian’s allies are spearheading the campaign.

If the recall reaches the ballot, it would trigger another 120-day waiting period before Simonian could be dismissed. November’s municipal election would create a third delay.

Simonian, whose employment package totaled close to $200,000 a year, could remain on administrative leave until February 2001, even if the council were to fire him.

“I would like to be reinstated,” Simonian said. “I’ve spend a good part of my life building this community--it’s a safe place to live and raise a family. I would be would be pleased to stay on for a reasonable time and finish the work.”

Gullixson said that the city will continue with its lawsuit against Simonian to recover about $300,000 he allegedly paid himself without authorization.

Councilmen Henry Wedaa and Mark Schwing, who sat in on the court proceedings, expressed satisfaction with the judge’s decision.

Schwing, who gave a written declaration to Simonian’s attorneys that the council violated the state’s Brown Act, said it is important for the city to follow due process.

Woolley said his decision was based in part by the evidence in Schwing’s statement.