Published: Friday, September 6, 2002 Taboada fires back   By Jason Gewirtz, Staff writer LONG BEACH - City Manager Henry Taboada on Thursday blasted the "disgraceful, ugly process" that led to his sudden firing this week, saying the City Council never gave him an opportunity to state his case. In a wide-ranging interview, Taboada railed at not being invited to Wednesday's closed-door meeting that led to his dismissal, criticized the council for blaming the city's budget woes on him and questioned the motives of the four council members who first sought his retirement on Tuesday. As for his dismissal by a unanimous, nine-member council, Taboada said his issue was with the process, not the outcome. "It's almost a relief, because there's always been and always will be issues that make it difficult to manage nine people," he said. Taboada offered strong opinions on a variety of subjects: -On the reasons for his firing: "There's a power grab here. There's a group of the council who wants to run things their way." -On not being invited to Wednesday's closed-door meeting: "I was simply frozen out and left standing there." -On council complaints against him: "It's not as if I got arrested for rape or robbed a bank or beat my wife." -On being asked earlier in the week to retire: "I said, well, my position is if you've got the five votes, you might as well fire me." -On his dismissal: "It's kind of like if you don't win the pennant. You don't fire the owner, you don't fire the players, you fire the coach." -On the process of his removal: "I absolutely think this was a disgraceful, ugly process." -On the city's future: "What scares me is what's left behind in terms of turmoil." But Taboada's strongest comments were aimed at the four council members who formed the core group of opposition to his tenure. Earlier meeting On Tuesday, Taboada met with council members Bonnie Lowenthal, Dan Baker, Laura Richardson-Batts and Jackie Kell in Lowenthal's 14th-floor City Hall office. He was asked to retire. Taboada refused, and that night the council voted to meet in an emergency session Wednesday to review Taboada's performance as city manager. At that meeting, the council emerged with a unanimous vote to fire Taboada. The city manager, who will remain in office until Oct. 4 under the decision reached Wednesday, said the group he met with in Lowenthal's office had its own agenda for seeking his dismissal. Lowenthal and Richardson-Batts, he said, had issues with him for not providing enough services to their districts, which include downtown and Central Long Beach. "Lowenthal and Richardson-Batts always cry the blues that, `We don't get what we deserve,'‚" he said. Asked for comment, Lowenthal said, "It's my job to let the city know what the needs are in my district, and I will continue to do that as long as I'm in office." And Richardson-Batts said, "If a person has eyesight and can see and hear and smell, they know how the city has not provided equity in terms of investment in the city of Long Beach." Taboada also said he was caught in a power play between two people who want to be mayor: Kell and Vice Mayor Frank Colonna. Taboada said Kell joined forces with those who opposed him to gain ground on Colonna, a Taboada supporter, by having the city manager removed. "One of them killed me to get to the other," he said. Kell, whose husband, Ernie, served a lengthy tenure as mayor, said she has no plans for the city's top spot. "This is conjecture because I'm a Kell and Ernie was mayor," she said of Taboada's comments. "That's not accurate, but people are entitled to their opinions." As for Baker, Taboada noted that the councilman had made a point during a recent mayoral campaign of preferring a government with a stronger mayor and a weaker city manager. Baker said Thursday that his thoughts on the city's structure had nothing to do with Taboada's firing. "We still have the exact same form of government," he said. Blamed for deficit As for the council in general, Taboada said he was blamed for recent budget woes in part because the council didn't receive what it wanted in the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. That budget projects a general fund deficit of $46 million, but balances it by using one-time revenues received during the previous fiscal year. The city has had similar deficits in recent years, Taboada said, each of which have been balanced using a variety of revenue sources. Taboada said he was being criticized for budget issues because the council did not receive everything it asked for in his proposal, including controversial discretionary funds and $21 million in unfunded programs. He said a recent column by Press-Telegram columnist Tom Hennessy, which called for his resignation, added fuel for his opponents. "Hennessy's column was kind of a springboard for them to have a feeding frenzy," Taboada said. "I think that was a catalyst." Baker denied that media coverage swayed the council's thinking. "There's been a lot of discussion that somehow the council's decision was related to recent press stories, and that clearly is not the case," he said. Left outside Beyond his criticism of the four members who first sought his dismissal, Taboada said his main objection to the events of this week was a lack of say in the process. During past performance evaluations, he said, he has been invited to make a case for what he has accomplished. Taboada was not invited to Wednesday's session. City Attorney Bob Shannon said the council has the option of including Taboada in its performance evaluation if it wants. Shannon said Wednesday's meeting was not the typical evaluation, in that the council was considering terminating Taboada's employment. "He knew very well what the nature of their deliberations were," he said. Still, some council members said Taboada had a reason to complain about the process. Councilman Rob Webb said Taboada offered "a fair criticism." And Dennis Carroll, who opposed Wednesday's meeting but eventually voted for Taboada's dismissal, added: "I don't think that's an unfair assessment." Taboada noted that he approached Shannon Wednesday afternoon with an offer that would have allowed him to retire under his own terms. Under the proposal, Taboada offered to work through October, then take a six-month paid hiatus, during which he would be available for consulting or to provide help in the search for his replacement. Severance pay Because he was fired, Taboada received a severance package equal to six months of his pay and benefits, or roughly $120,000. Taboada said his proposal would have essentially spread out that payment over six months, instead of coming at once. Asked to respond, Shannon said the request was denied because having Taboada on the payroll without doing work would be considered a gift of public funds. "The whole concept was he would be staying at home and be available for consulting work if consulted," Shannon said. Despite the tempest surrounding his future with the city, Taboada showed up to work as usual Thursday at City Hall, where he was greeted by a group of supportive city management personnel. Taboada said his day was spent largely on the phone. He had cleared his calendar the previous day, not knowing the eventual outcome of the council's proceedings. "I scheduled no appointments," he said, "because I wasn't sure if I'd be let back in the office."