City Manager to Sue Over Dismissal : Government: But Yorba Linda’s ousted top official himself faces a suit to recover $47,000 in bonuses, benefits.

The fired city manager of Yorba Linda on Wednesday announced plans to sue the city for wrongful dismissal, but first he must face civil and possible criminal charges that he helped himself to thousands of dollars worth of illicit secret bonuses and other lavish perks.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to fire City Manager Arthur Simonian for financial malfeasance.

The council majority decided that a three-week special investigation had unearthed enough evidence of wrongdoing for the city to refer the matter to the district attorney’s office, the Internal Revenue Service and state tax regulators.

The council also voted to sue Simonian to force the repayment of public funds. Mayor John Gullixson said the investigation found that in 1997 alone, when the city manager’s compensation neared $200,000 a year, Simonian collected an additional $47,000 in salary and benefits never approved by the council.

“He decided to hide what was going on. He had developed a level of arrogance that disregarded the council, both its importance and its powers of scrutiny,” said Gullixson, who led the effort to dismiss Simonian. “He was nice and personable, charming at times, but he was in effect the city’s benevolent dictator.”

The city hired a special attorney and auditor to investigate Simonian, and their 150 pages of findings were submitted to the council Tuesday. After a marathon closed-door meeting and caustic public debate, the council voted 3 to 2 to fire Simonian.

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Simonian has not seen the reports, which have not been made public. On the advice of city legal advisors, council members also declined to disclose most of the findings.

“It makes it absolutely impossible for Mr. Simonian to defend himself,” said Craig Scott, Simonian’s attorney. “He has not been given the opportunity to hear what the allegations [in the report] are.”

Simonian, who denies any wrongdoing, plans to fight his dismissal and is preparing a wrongful-termination lawsuit, Scott said.

The ousted manager has the support of many key players in the community, such as John Taylor, the executive director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, and former longtime Councilman Irwin Fried, who spoke in Simonian’s defense at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“Is Art a man of integrity? Is he indispensable to the city? Am I honored to call him a friend?” Taylor said at the time. “The answer is yes.”

Councilmen Henry W. Wedaa and Mark Schwing also championed the city manager’s cause, calling Simonian’s dismissal unwarranted and destructive to the city. Both members voted against ending his 27-year tenure with the city.

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The controversy over Simonian has created a gaping rift on the council. The mayor said Wednesday he was suspicious of the motives of Wedaa and Schwing, but did not elaborate.

The scandal will also tarnish the reputation of council members, because they allowed Simonian to collect the illicit bonuses unchecked for more than a decade, Gullixson said.

“We’re going to take political heat for this, but we ended up doing the right thing,” he said. “I don’t know how anybody with the facts that we have can take the position that Wedaa and Schwing took.”

Schwing refused to respond to the mayor’s comments or to discuss Simonian’s dismissal or the current political climate on the council. Wedaa could not be reached for comment.

Gullixson was joined by council members Barbara Kiley and Gene Wisner in the vote to fire Simonian.

“We have found a serious violation of the law and, if nothing else, an absolute breach of ethics. It was our duty to do what we did,” Kiley said.

Wisner cast the deciding vote at his last council meeting.