RIORDAN'S BUYOUT OF OFFICIAL QUESTIONED; CITY PARKS DIRECTOR RECEIVED $200,000 CONTRACT.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. members accused Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. on Tuesday of falsely claiming he had to give the city parks director a $200,000 consulting contract to ensure she would step aside and not sue. Documents obtained by the Daily News showed that the Riordan administration gave Jackie Tatum a good job evaluation Job evaluation is the process of systematically determining a relative value of jobs in an organisation. In all cases the idea is to evaluate the job, not the person doing it. Job Ranking is the most simple form. , leaving the council little way to justify firing her. Council members said they might have supported Tatum's firing - saving the city $200,000 - but they couldn't do so because of the positive job evaluation. Firing her under those circumstances would have opened the city to a lawsuit. ``It shows the deviousness de·vi·ous adj. 1. Not straightforward; shifty: a devious character. 2. Departing from the correct or accepted way; erring: achieved success by devious means. of the Riordan administration,'' said City Councilwoman Rita Walters Rita Walters (1930-) is currently the commissioner of the Los Angeles Public Library. Prior to this position, she served on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 9th district. During that time, she chaired the Arts, Health & Humanities Committee. . ``He wants to complain on one hand, but what he puts out to the public is not factual.'' One council official called the mayor's claim ``galling,'' and City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg Jackie Goldberg (born June 16, 1937) is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly. said Riordan's public and private actions appear contradictory. On Monday, Riordan said City Council members agreed with him that Tatum was failing as general manager, but he felt the council would not remove her. As a result, Riordan said he gave her the buyout. ``We offered her a contract to be a consultant on a quid pro quo [Latin, What for what or Something for something.] The mutual consideration that passes between two parties to a contractual agreement, thereby rendering the agreement valid and binding. for her leaving,'' Riordan said. On Tuesday, Riordan spokeswoman Deane Leavenworth said the mayor is ``sticking with what he said, and we're not elaborating on it.'' Tatum's buyout is one of at least 11 since 1990 that have cost the city more than $1.2 million, mostly for bureaucrats who were pressured to quit or were fired because of poor performance. Riordan had said the Tatum case illustrates why he supports charter reform commission recommendations that would give the mayor sole power to remove department managers. ``It would have been very hard to back up a decision to remove her if Jackie Tatum had decided to sue,'' Walters said. Walters served on a performance evaluation Performance evaluation The assessment of a manager's results, which involves, first, determining whether the money manager added value by outperforming the established benchmark (performance measurement) and, second, determining how the money manager achieved the calculated return committee with Deputy Mayor Kelly Martin and Parks Commission President Steve Soboroff Steve Soboroff (born August 31, 1948) is a real estate developer and president of Playa Vista. Mr. Soboroff is the Chairperson of the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. that unanimously approved a glowing report on Tatum on Aug. 21, 1997. They said Tatum ``consistently exceeds goals and expectations.'' ``At the outset of the meeting, Commissioner Soboroff had stated that good performance had been demonstrated by the manager and the department during the 1996-97 fiscal year, and that there has been a significant degree of improvement in the department during the last several years,'' the report said. On June 11, the city's Executive Employee Relations Committee, which includes Riordan and four council members, also gave Tatum good grades. As a result, Tatum received a 2 percent merit pay Noun 1. merit pay - extra pay awarded to an employee on the basis of merit (especially to school teachers) pay, remuneration, salary, wage, earnings - something that remunerates; "wages were paid by check"; "he wasted his pay on drink"; "they saved a quarter of all increase. Riordan was not at the committee meeting, but Goldberg, a member of the panel, said the glowing evaluation now stands at odds with his stated aims. Goldberg said Riordan's decision to give Tatum a good review and then a buyout proves to her that the mayor does not need more power to fire managers. ``The mayor has always had more power than he's exercised,'' Goldberg said. ``If he chooses not to exercise his power, that is not a reason to give the mayor more power.'' Soboroff said Riordan's performance evaluation is consistent with the mayor's public statements. ``We gave her a two rating based on the criteria that was there,'' Soboroff said. ``Jackie was invaluable in a lot of areas that are important to me. ``The performance evaluation criteria were a lot less stringent than they are now.'' |
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