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Resident urges Baldwin Park City Council to hire outside firm for city manager search, alleges payroll and retirement concerns
Summary
At a May 7 special meeting, a resident urged Baldwin Park City Council to hire an outside firm for a city manager search, alleging past payroll irregularities, a pending lawsuit, and risks of "spiking" retirement benefits if an internal hire is appointed. The council recessed to closed session after public comment.
A resident told the Baldwin Park City Council at a special meeting May 7 that the city should hire an outside firm to lead its next city manager search and raised allegations about past payroll and retirement practices tied to current and former city employees.
The comment came during the public comment portion of a special meeting called to order at 5:06 p.m. The resident said council should avoid hiring internal candidates without a formal outside search, arguing that internal hires risk "spiking the retirement" for employees approaching retirement age. "Manny Carrillo is not 1 to be in there leading this city," the resident said. The resident added that outside consultants should screen and interview candidates to ensure qualified leadership.
The resident attributed several specific concerns to city staffing and payroll: a claimed annual figure for Manny Carrillo of "$282,004.74," a reference to "23 records," and a comparison to pay for a person named Ricky (the transcript records the phrase "Ricky's pay of $3.29 $0.92," which is unclear in the record). The resident also alleged ongoing litigation involving a city employee, saying, "You have a lawsuit with Susie Reyes that's going on right now." The resident accused another employee, Rose Tam, of financial improprieties, saying "she cooks the books," and cited a past example in which he said a former police chief, Mike Taylor, benefited from retirement "spiking."
The resident urged the council to hire "a professional company" to conduct candidate searches: "Have a professional company come in and get you your directors and get you your people that are running the staff." He said hiring from within has produced operational problems and warned the city could face budget deficits if leadership issues are not addressed.
No council discussion or response to the public comment is recorded in the transcript. After public communication, the council closed public comment and the meeting moved to an open study session, which had no items, and then recessed to a closed session. The clerk indicated there were no speaker cards at the start of public comment and only one person spoke on agenda items.
The remarks reported here are the resident's statements during public comment and have not been corroborated by city records or statements from named officials. The council's action recorded in the transcript was to recess to closed session; no vote or formal personnel action is recorded in the public portion of the meeting.
