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South Pasadena city commissioners table vote on firing mayor

 
South Pasadena Mayor Dan Calabria, left, and Commissioner Arthur Penny have a tense exchange Monday during a commission meeting at South Pasadena City Hall. Commissioners met to vote to possibly remove Calabria from office. They agreed to explore mediation instead.
South Pasadena Mayor Dan Calabria, left, and Commissioner Arthur Penny have a tense exchange Monday during a commission meeting at South Pasadena City Hall. Commissioners met to vote to possibly remove Calabria from office. They agreed to explore mediation instead.
Published March 17, 2015

SOUTH PASADENA — The City Commission in this quiet coastal city is considering marriage counseling — or something like it.

City leaders voted Monday to explore the prospect of mediation rather than to fire South Pasadena's mayor, 79-year-old Dan Calabria, whose belligerence in office could, according to one lawyer, leave the city of 3,000 exposed to a lawsuit.

But the mayor also threatened litigation if the rest of the five-person City Commission ousted him, and the group demurred during a contentious two-hour meeting.

"We're damned if we do and damned if we don't," Commissioner Max Elson said.

The vote to table a resolution to suspend or fire the mayor followed months of turmoil. Calabria, his fellow commissioners said, has been generally rude and potentially discriminatory toward City Clerk Carley Lewis.

Each elected commissioner oversees a municipal department. They earn $511 a month and have equal votes. The mayor's power is mostly ceremonial. He oversees administration, which includes the city clerk.

An independent lawyer hired by the city to investigate Calabria's work with Lewis wrote in a report this month that "the mayor's treatment of the city clerk has been inexcusable, unprofessional, demeaning and possibly discriminatory." The investigator, W. Russell Hamilton III of Port St. Lucie, focused on an August incident when the mayor was antagonistic toward Lewis and which Hamilton said was emblematic of Calabria's relationship with her.

Lewis attended the meeting Monday but did not speak. Clerk's office employees have declined to comment.

Calabria denied all charges and said he is still unclear what, exactly, he did to offend Lewis. He questioned Hamilton's independence and thoroughness.

"There was no sexual discrimination. There was no antifeminism," he said. "That is not me. My God. You should talk to my daughters about that."

The meeting drew three television cameras along with more than a dozen residents — most supporting Calabria. They accused the commissioners of ineptitude and vindictiveness.

"I know you've got some disagreements," resident Pete Franco said. "They can be worked out without this having to happen."

Calabria's lawyer, Sheri Gerwe, told the commission that firing the mayor would be "disenfranchising voters." He is in the final year of a three-year term. Gerwe said she and Calabria would pursue legal action and suggested that a court "could order the city to pay" litigation costs.

"I am hopeful that we will not take the city down that road," Gerwe said. The crowd cheered.

Gerwe and City Attorney David Ottinger now have to form a plan for mediation between Calabria and Lewis, which the commission will vote on soon.

The commissioners, minus Calabria, who was not allowed to vote, unanimously supported the motion to explore mediation.

New Commissioner Lari Johnson, who took office last week, said the "goal is to eliminate the problem, not the mayor."

At the end of the meeting, Calabria maintained that he did not fully understand the accusations against him, but he supported mediation.

"I am a decent person. I am a gentleman," he said. "I don't create problems."

Commissioners said they hope mediation will force Calabria to see why his treatment of employees is unacceptable and help city leaders better work together.

"We had to get his attention," Commissioner Arthur Penny said. "This was a way to do it."

Contact Zachary T. Sampson at zsampson@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8804. Follow @ZackSampson.