Manhattan Beach City Council Tuesday unanimously voted to place city attorney Robert Wadden on administrative leave for a week effective immediately, during the last of three special closed session meetings held in a week to discuss his performance.
The 4-0 vote came a week after an anonymous letter that was addressed to Wadden and accused former city manager Geoff Dolan of sexual harassment was made public. Councilmember David Lesser was not present at the meeting.
Another closed session meeting will be held on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. “to take action pursuant to [Wadden’s] employment contract,” said attorney Christi Hogin, whom the city retained last month as outside legal counsel in a lawsuit filed by watchdog group Californians Aware.
Hogin could not say why Wadden was placed on administrative leave.
“We all understand that personnel issues involve individual privacies that are protected,” she said.
“When the procedure is complete, we will have more information,” she added.
In each of the two-hour plus meetings held since the letter was made public, the council’s agenda included a discussion of Wadden’s performance with Hogin, as well as an item titled “public employee discipline/dismissal/release.” Wadden’s performance is evaluated annually per his employment agreement with the city, which began in January 1996 and was last restated in January 2006. His last performance evaluation was held on March 2 of last year, according to city records.
According to the agreement, Wadden is a contractor serving at the will of the Council. The agreement automatically renews annually on Jan. 1 unless either Wadden or the city provides notice of termination at least five calendar days prior to the renewal date.
“Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the City Council to terminate employee’s services and this agreement without cause, subject only to the terms of this agreement,” the agreement states.
Court documents indicate that Wadden received the undated, anonymous letter Nov. 11, 2009 and shortly thereafter turned it over to the council. The letter alleged that Dolan inappropriately touched a city employee at a department head team building retreat in October 2009. Dolan resigned at the request of the council two months after the letter was sent to city officials.
Questions surrounding the legitimacy of his departure and $195,000 severance – to be paid, according to his contract, only in the event of his “involuntary separation” — have given residents and watchdogs concern for more than a year. Until last week, the council had repeatedly declined to discuss the reason for his resignation, citing legal advice from Wadden.
Californians Aware director Richard McKee filed a lawsuit against the city last April, claiming it did not provide proper public notice for a December 2009 closed session council meeting at which Dolan’s departure was decided. McKee also said the city, and Wadden in particular, continually denied his requests to see documents he said should be public, such as Dolan’s separation agreement and the anonymous letter. The City Council voted earlier this month to settle the lawsuit, admitting its mistake in not properly noticing meetings, as well as agreeing to release the anonymous letter.
An “open letter” signed and released by council members last week apologized to residents for being “reluctant to be forthright” with the community in the 15 months since Dolan’s departure.
“In retrospect, we were given legal advice previously that was based on concern for Mr. Dolan’s privacy to the detriment of the community’s legitimate interest in knowing why we, as a Council, made that decision,” the letter stated. “We hope that you will forgive us for relying on legal advice that resulted in our silence.”
Wadden could not immediately be reached for comment.
His employment agreement shows his annual salary, including a car allowance, to be $180,000, along with benefits similar to city department heads, including the full cost of his retirement contribution paid by the city, and vacation and sick leave.
Should the council decide to terminate his contract, Wadden could be entitled to a lump sum payment equal to six months of his current salary and benefits. However, the payment would be reduced by one month’s salary for each month of advance notice of termination given by the City Council. Wadden would be eligible for the severance pay only in the event of his involuntary separation from the city, which would include removal by the council or his resignation following a reduction in compensation, but does not include termination for cause, inability to perform duties or conviction of an illegal act.
The City Council will meet in a special closed session meeting Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. to further discuss Wadden’s employment with the city. For more information, visit www.citymb.info. ER
