Ousted City Manager Gets Same Job in West Covina

A former city manager of South Gate, whose bosses got a court order to get him out of his office, has been tapped by the West Covina City Council as that city’s top administrator.

Andrew Pasmant, 45, will take office Oct. 1, becoming West Covina’s third city manager in three years.

“It is a city I feel is progressive,” Pasmant said, “and I am very excited about the whole idea.”

Chosen from a pool of about 40 candidates to succeed Daniel Hobbs, now Fresno’s city manager, Pasmant was a unanimous choice.

“Andrew is the best person for us in West Covina. He is the most qualified candidate,” said Mayor Ben Wong. “He has a lot of experience in development and dealing with local politics in a similar-sized city.”

West Covina, a city of 101,000, has seen several power struggles among its council members in recent years. But it pales beside South Gate, a city in the southeast county where a mayor was once shot and campaign fliers, often sent anonymously, have included inflammatory accusations.

Pasmant’s departure from South Gate also was acrimonious.

Pasmant, after three years as city manager, was placed on paid leave last December, pending an investigation by city officials into possible wrongdoing. Among other things, they were examining whether he improperly obtained a city car.

Pasmant called the vote to oust him illegal and kept coming to work, insisting he had done nothing wrong and wanted to earn his salary. So city officials last January got a restraining order to prohibit him from performing the duties of city manager. He was dismissed in May. In July, he sued the city of South Gate for unlawful termination, claiming four of five council members needed to approve it.