[ad_1]
Still new to the job, City of Westminster Director Marwan Youssef takes full responsibility for the fallout from a $ 6,400 per month consultancy contract with Tyler Diep.
“I needed the help of someone part-time who will be keeping tabs on legislative activities in Sacramento,” Youssef said at the city council meeting on Wednesday, June 9. “I thought he had the knowledge and the connections.
The longtime Westminster employee was promoted to city manager in February. Within a month, Youssef began negotiating a contract with Diep to advise him on potential sources of tax revenue.
Although Diep signed the agreement on April 29, he received a backlog of wages of $ 7,000 for work performed in the previous weeks.
At their previous meeting on May 26, Tai Do board members Kimberly Ho and Carlos Manzo expressed dismay at the deal, complaining that they learned about it two months after the fact. A few days later, Diep terminated the contract.
Do, Ho and Manzo took turns toasting Youssef on Wednesday night about the contract. “I guess only two of us have been informed,” Manzo said, referring to Mayor Tri Ta and City Councilor Charlie Nguyen.
In a June 2 letter to Youssef, Diep said his work in the city “is exploited by my political opponents inside and outside the city council”.
But Manzo disputed this characterization. “I don’t really know him (and) I have nothing against him,” he said. “When things are done in the dark, people react.”
Ta brushed aside any insinuations that the contract was secret. “In the past, many of our former city managers have hired consultants without notifying city council,” he said.
However, Manzo refuted: “(Diep) is not just anyone. He’s someone who has a relationship with some of the board members. He is a well-known public figure. “
Diep was a member of the state assembly from 2018 to 2020, losing his candidacy in the March primaries to be on the November ballot.
His eight-year tenure on Westminster City Council straddled Ta’s election as mayor. Diep sits in the health district of Midway City with Nguyen.
Diep was hired in February to work part-time for Orange County supervisor Lisa Bartlett at $ 31.25 an hour. His contract with Westminster offered $ 80 an hour with a monthly cap of 80 hours.
At Wednesday’s city council meeting, Manzo asked Youssef about the higher salary. Youssef said $ 80 was the going rate for some of the city’s other consultants, such as IT professionals.
Diep owes an additional $ 6,400 for the month of May but has yet to be paid, Youssef said.
Do pointedly asked director of community development Alexis Smittle if Diep had a business license with the city for his home-based consulting company, TD Strategies. After a brief search, she replied, “Nothing is showing. “
Do also referred to California Fair Political Practices Commission rules that in many cases former state officials must wait a year after leaving office to engage in lobbying activities.
Calling the contract “illegal and fraudulent,” Do offered to cancel the final payment and seek reimbursement of the first payment. Council members voted to consider this idea behind closed doors.
“I guarantee you (Diep) doesn’t spend 20 hours a week working on simple five paragraph reports,” Do said.
Ho said she found it “very offensive indeed” that Youssef did not consult all members of city council about the contract. “At least email us that you’re going to hire someone who might have some controversy,” she said.
The councilor called Youssef’s statement that he hoped Diep could recoup the redevelopment funds the state cut from Westminster was “far-fetched”.
“Are you dreaming?” Ho asked. “No, we’re not going to get that money.”
Do said his initial support for Youssef had waned: “I would be happy to receive your resignation letter, sir.
Council members voted unanimously to reduce the city manager’s power to issue contracts without council approval from $ 180,000 per year to $ 50,000, according to other towns in Orange County.
“Any contract that I sign now will be sent to you, whether it’s $ 1 or $ 50,000,” Youssef told the board. “That I can assure you. “
[ad_2]
picture credit