FOR THE RECORD HEARNS: NO ATTEMPT TO OUST LASALA.

Byline: JIM SKEEN

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A story Wednesday incorrectly stated there was a Lancaster City Council vote to oust City Manager Bob LaSala and that Mayor Henry Hearns and Councilman Andy Visokey supported his dismissal.

There was no such vote. And Hearns and Visokey had voiced support for LaSala and said they hoped the council could resolve conflicts among themselves and with LaSala in private conversation.

There were two votes taken with respect to LaSala's contract, and both were put up for a vote at his request. LaSala asked the council to amend his contract to require at least four votes to fire him. That request failed in a split vote, with Hearns, Visokey and Councilman Ron Smith voting against it. All three said the issue wasn't with LaSala, but that requiring a supermajority to fire the city manager was bad public policy.

A second vote on lifting the Dec. 31, 2008, expiration date on LaSala's contract was approved by a 4-1 vote, with Smith dissenting.

The errors in Wednesday's paper were the result of a miscommunication between the reporter and editor at deadline.

The votes on the contract came during a special meeting called by Hearns to discuss LaSala's performance. Fearful the council was aiming to fire LaSala, more than 200 of the city manager's supporters packed into Lancaster City Hall for the meeting, some carrying signs that read "Don't Fire Bob" or stickers that simply read "Bob."

"One thing Mr. LaSala has is respect from staff," Visokey said. "As a council, we have to respect that. It's obvious he has the respect of the community."

Hearns said his intentions were misinterpreted by the public and that the session was called to smooth over "rough places" in the council-manager relationship. Hearns said he wants the city to move forward as a "six-man team."

"Nobody of the five of us want to vote him out," Hearns said Wednesday of LaSala. "We all have some differences that we are working on."

On Wednesday, LaSala said he sought the supermajority requirement for his contract because of the "volatility of politics" in Lancaster. LaSala also cited "bold and irresponsible" statements made by influential people in Lancaster to oust him, a reference to a feud with developer Frank Visco, the former chairman of the California Republican Party.

Visco, a civic leader in the Antelope Valley for 40 years, has stated publicly that he is seeking LaSala's removal for a variety of reasons, including what he calls the city manager's adversarial attitude toward one of his major developments -- Amargosa Creek, a proposed 150- acre development featuring retail and office space and possibly a hospital.

Visco alleges LaSala has created a bureaucratic morass at City Hall that is hamstringing community development.

james.skeen(at)dailynews

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