Lawsuit cannot fade from city’s memory just yet

The ink of six signatures has dried on a settlement agreement that

hopefully marks the end of an appalling turn of events at Costa Mesa

City Hall regarding the city attorney’s office.

Mayor Gary Monahan expressed his relief in the second settlement

saying, “It’s just nice to finally get this behind us. We can move on

with the important business of running the city.”

Before the mayor and his colleagues put this completely behind

them, they should be reminded that it was their actions alone that

created this problem in the first place.

This quandary was produced simply because the City Council was not

focused on the important business of running the city and instead

attempted to clean house in the city attorney’s office clearly

lacking a big enough broom for the job.

In this case, hindsight should be exercised.

In September of 2002, the council -- for reasons still unknown to

the public -- decided to place longtime employees, City Atty. Jerry

Scheer and Asst. City Atty. Tom Wood, on paid administrative leave.

That was the first mistake.

The council does not even have authority over the assistant city

attorney’s position. The council reacted quickly and reinstated Wood.

The second mistake came soon after, when city’s officials

maintained with a straight face that the council’s action to place

Scheer on administrative leave was not a negative thing, that it was

a routine matter and should not be mistaken as an indication of any

wrong-doing.

The third mistake took place when the city denied Scheer’s request

to have his “personnel” issues discussed in a public forum, as he is

entitled under state law. Sure, they didn’t flat out deny the

request, but in response, council officials held another veiled,

closed session meeting and reinstated him.

What followed were attempts to back peddle, Scheer’s voluntary

leave of absence and then, the lawsuit.

After a year of conjecture and rumors in the community regarding

the city attorney’s office, and its leader, Scheer sued the city for

wrongful termination.

Now, after mistake No. 4 of not getting all the signatures

required for the first settlement agreement, Scheer will be

collecting $750,000 of the taxpayer’s money.

What’s done is done, but it would behoove the council not to put

this behind them just yet. Council members must learn their lessons

from this fiasco in order for any good to come from this.

Putting the city attorney, or any city employee, on administrative

leave should be done only when all the facts are in and when there’s

a clear need to do so. But the secret nature of these proceedings and

the fact the council learned a $750,000 lesson leaves us unconvinced

that the cost of this action was worth the price.