Council Votes to Fire City Attorney Despite Protest

The City Council voted to fire its city attorney and redevelopment attorney Tuesday night despite heated public charges that their motives were political.

The three council members who appeared and voted unanimously in a closed session have complained that City Atty. Elizabeth Martyn spent far too much taxpayer money--at least $50,000--on what became a public relations nightmare: the prosecution of a family who owned a chimpanzee. Moe, the chimp, was removed from the home after biting off a woman’s fingertip.

Martyn and other residents said that issue was a ruse to get rid of her and the redevelopment attorney, Tom Clark.

Martyn said Councilman Richard Melendez, who is running for state Senate, was leveraging the lucrative city attorney contract to get money and support for his campaign. She alleged that Melendez asked her to donate $10,000 to him or lose her job, and that he needed the money to gain support from state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles).

Martyn donated $2,025 to Melendez, a move many residents thought was unethical.

Melendez said it was bad judgment to take the money but denied that he told Martyn her job depended on the donation.

“In hindsight, I should have given the money back,” he said. He said his endorsement from Polanco is irrelevant to the firing, and that a consensus to get rid of her had been building for months.

Last Thursday, Melendez called an emergency meeting for the next afternoon, a day Martyn’s supporters--Mayor Kathy Howard and Councilman Ben Wong--were scheduled to be out of town. Howard appeared, declaring that Melendez and Councilmen Steve Herfert and Michael Touhey were violating open meeting laws.

The meeting was rescheduled for Monday, and later moved to Tuesday.