Closed session vexes Scheer
Lolita Harper
City officials are being tight-lipped about a late-night closed
door meeting Wednesday to consider the dismissal of a city employee.
City officials would not confirm or deny that the special meeting
was the result of a performance review for City Atty. Jerry Scheer,
but Scheer’s attorney suggested it was.
Greg Petersen, a private attorney hired to represent Scheer when
he was first placed on administrative leave, also criticized the
council’s insistence on continually dragging his client’s name
through the mud.
L.A. attorney Peter Brown, who was hired as outside counsel to
advise the council, stressed that city leaders are taking steps to
avoid the humiliation Petersen is alleging.
State open-meeting laws allow city leaders to meet in private when
the subject matter is sensitive and confidential, Brown said. The
City Council is not required to announce which public employee it is
considering releasing because it could stigmatize that person, Brown
said.
“My understanding is that the reason for this is so that whoever
the legislative body is discussing is not subject to embarrassment or
ridicule,” Brown said. “It is to maintain confidentiality.”
The closed-door session included the City Council -- except
Councilman Gary Monahan, who could not make the last-minute meeting
-- City Manager Allan Roeder, Director of Administrative Services
Steve Hayman, Personnel Manager Howard Perkins and Brown.
Nobody would comment on the content of the session nor explain why
a termination was even being considered.
The council voted on Oct. 4 to reinstate Scheer.
Wednesday’s meeting marks the fifth closed session in the past two
months since Scheer’s initial removal on Sept. 9. It was then that
the council voted unanimously to place Scheer and Assistant City
Atty. Tom Woods on paid administrative leave after a general employee
performance evaluation.
During that same session, council members also voted to halt all
business with an outside legal firm, audit the city attorney’s office
and set up a subcommittee to further review the performance of the
city’s top two attorneys.
A week later, a unanimous council vote reinstated Wood.
Council members continued to hold closed sessions about the
remaining legal issues. State law mandates local leaders invite the
public to special proceedings, open the meeting in a public forum and
then adjourn to “closed session,” in which council members discuss
sensitive topics among themselves. Any actions taken by the council
as a result of the private deliberations are then reported back in an
open forum.
During the public comment portion of a Sept. 30 meeting, Petersen
alleged a laundry list of wrongdoings by the city and threatened
legal action.
Petersen said the stigma and stress of being placed on leave had
caused his client to suffer serious health complications and that
63-year-old Scheer was at home under heavy medication. Petersen also
said City Council members were trying to persuade Scheer to retire.
On Friday, Oct. 4, the council voted 3 to 2 to reinstate Scheer,
with Monahan and Councilwoman Karen Robinson dissenting. Scheer was
back at work Monday, Oct. 7.
Sources close to City Hall said Scheer returned to the office,
where he conducted the city’s business from behind closed doors.
Calls to Scheer at the City Attorney’s Office were not returned.
Calls to Petersen on Thursday also went unanswered.
Scheer has been with the city attorney’s office for almost 16
years, providing legal services to the City Council, the Planning
Commission, the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency and city departments.
Scheer and Woods provide legal counsel and advice during all
official meetings and study sessions, and are responsible for the
preparation of ordinances, resolutions, contracts and agreements,
officials said. Counsel also interprets and applies local, state and
federal laws, and conducts and monitors litigation.
Planning Commissioner Eleanor Egan, who worked with Scheer during
her previous employment in the city attorney’s office, said she has
always known him to be a man of honesty and integrity. Egan said she
was anxious for a resolution.
* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)
574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.