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Laguna Hills council authorizes independent investigation, approves up to $200,000 contract
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Summary
After a closed session on Nov. 7, the Laguna Hills City Council authorized an independent investigation into verbal complaints by city employees about an executive staff member and directed the interim city manager to sign a contract for the work not to exceed $200,000; no public comments were received on the item.
The Laguna Hills City Council reported that it authorized an independent investigation into verbal complaints by city employees concerning a member of the city’s executive staff and directed the interim city manager to sign a contract for the work not to exceed $200,000.
The action was disclosed after the council reconvened from a closed session called under the Government Code for anticipated litigation and significant exposure to litigation. Interim City Manager (name not specified) told the council: "The closed session report is, reporting, 2 actionable items. The first being, that the city council authorized an independent investigation and, authorized the interim city manager to sign a contract for an independent, investigation using an attorney and then not to exceed amount of $200,000." The transcript records no public vote or roll-call tally for the authorization in open session.
Executive Assistant Hassan Cow reported that there were no public comments on the closed-session item: "We received 0 electronic public comments on the closed session item and 0 requests to speak." The closed-session agenda item was described as conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation under Government Code section 54956.9 and related subdivision provisions (listed in the closed-session announcement) concerning potential cases and verbal complaints by city employees about a city executive staff member.
The council’s presiding official then adjourned the meeting and announced a special joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Agency scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. The transcript does not identify the mover, second, or a recorded roll-call vote for the authorization; the report presented to the public stated the council "authorized" the investigation and the interim city manager’s authority to sign a contract not to exceed $200,000.
What happens next: The city has authorized an external inquiry and budgeted a not-to-exceed amount for a legal contract; the timing, scope and selection of the investigator or law firm were not specified in the public report, nor were funding sources for the contract identified in the transcript.
