Who will hold the power to fire?

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- The city’s Civil Service Commission is considering

giving itself the final say on terminating or disciplining City Hall

employees.

But City Manager Homer Bludau said he plans to fight this suggestion.

Under current city operations, the city manager is responsible for

managing such personnel decisions.

“I think I have the responsibility for this organization in terms of

being held accountable for its behavior,” Bludau said. “I need the

authority to reward and punish its behavior.”

The commission acts as the judicial arm of the city, and it does make

personnel recommendations and hears appeals made by city employees.

However, the final decision on city employment rests on the shoulders of

the city manager, who can overturn a commission verdict.

It is extremely rare for the city manager to overturn a commission

verdict, said former city manager Kevin Murphy, recalling his six-year

tenure with the city.

Bludau said the ability to make the final decision on all city employees

-- except for police, fire and marine safety -- is a very important part

of his job. The commission oversees employment issues in the city’s

public safety departments.

The question of who holds the power to terminate city employees came up

during the transfer from Murphy to Bludau, when in the interest of

cutting costs, City Atty. Bob Burnham suggested making the commission the

final arbiter, said Commissioner Steve Bromberg, who was commission

chairman at the time.

The idea was shelved but recently resurfaced when it came time to update

the personnel rules. The commission late Monday discussed whether it

should take action on the matter.

However, since Bludau is genuinely interested in retaining this power,

Bromberg said he sees no reason to take it away.

“My attitude is if Homer wants to keep it the way it was, why the hell

should it be taken away from him?” Bromberg said.