City Manager

You may have read that Costa Mesa no longer has a city manager. As of the last City Council meeting, the title has been dropped in favor of city chief executive officer. If you've watched the City Council since the election in November, you probably realize that this change in title is more than just window dressing. The new council seems to have a new, more business-like attitude than some previous councils. In fact, it seems that the new council is reinventing Costa Mesa along business lines.

Editor's note: This clarifies that the City Council wants to hire multiple people for consulting services. COSTA MESA — In an attempt to spend money to save money, the Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday approved with a 4-1 vote to spend up to $200,000 to hire outside consultants to help restructure city departments. Councilwoman Wendy Leece dissented. Several residents spoke against bringing in outside help, telling the council its members were elected to make these decisions and that it doesn't make sense to hire others to figure out how to restructure the city amid its $1.4-million budget shortfall.

COSTA MESA — The city's No. 2 administrator was named city manager on Friday. Tom Hatch, 44, will take over for City Manager Allan Roeder, who announced that he will retire in March after 25 years as city manager and 35 years at City Hall. Hatch has been working as assistant city manager for four and a half years. He previously worked for the cities of El Monte and West Covina. "It's a lifelong dream, and it's a job that I prepared for 23 years for," Hatch said Friday.

COSTA MESA — In an effort to help close the budget deficit, City Hall executives are considering whether to pay for a portion of their medical premiums next year. Costa Mesa covers the medical premiums for its five City Council members and 21 executives, including the city manager, assistant city manager, department heads and division managers. That adds up to about $39,000, or $1,500 a month, for each executive and elected official. With medical costs going up, the city will start contributing an additional $119 each month for each of the 26 in January, said Steve Mandoki, the city's administrative services director, who is having discussions with the executives and all city employees on behalf of the city.

Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff has requested an extension of the deadline that requires him to move into the city limits. Part of Kiff's August 2009 employment contract stipulates that he had to make his "best efforts" to move into the city within 12 months. Even though that contract provision is considered unconstitutional, Kiff has agreed to move from Laguna Beach to Newport Beach and is remodeling a home near the west bluff of Upper Newport Bay. The remodel is taking longer than expected, Kiff said, so he has requested an extension until Dec. 31, according to a city report.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Bell City Hall pay scandal touched down in Orange County on Tuesday, when former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo was arrested at his home. Silent and with his head down, Rizzo, 56, was taken from his home in handcuffs Tuesday morning, one of eight current or former Bell city officials accused of misappropriating funds by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Rizzo is charged with 53 counts of conflicts of interest and misappropriating $5.5 million in city funds.

Triple harbor fee increases are a forgone conclusion? What? Wait a minute! Have you ever sailed in a race and missed the first big wind shift? Well, most of you who race against me know I do that quite often. Man, have I missed a huge one this time. I picked up the first signs of this wind shift from some of my sources more than two months ago when a friend of mine called. He told me about the possible mooring permit increase. I thought to myself that I have seen this shift before and it seems to roll down the course about every two years.

It's not often that municipal employees go out of their way to publicize their salaries. So when Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff wrote an open letter Aug. 4 explaining what he and the City Council earn, Daily Pilot editors were happy to publish it. Curious residents now understood more about their public servants' compensation in the wake of the Bell salary scandal . And as some of those residents surely did, the Pilot also clicked the...

WESTMINSTER — Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo pleaded guilty to drunk driving in a Westminster court Wednesday following his March arrest in Huntington Beach. Rizzo, 56, of Huntington Beach, accepted a court-offered deal in which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of drunk driving and driving with a blood alcohol content of more than .20. Rizzo's blood alcohol level was .28, or more than three times the legal limit of .08. At about 10 p.m. March 6, Rizzo was driving home when he passed his house and tried to pull up onto his driveway but instead crashed into his neighbor's mailbox.

I am truly all for religious freedom. I am not at all for a religious organization flexing its power to sue anybody or any company for discrimination where none exists ("Disney host: Could not wear hijab," Aug. 19). A 2.5-year employee of Disneyland, Imane Boudlal, suddenly objects to not being able to wear her Muslim headdress at the Storyteller's Café, where she formerly was content to work, headscarf-free? Disneyland offers her the option to have another job where she can wear her headscarf, and she refuses this compromise?