Just four months after the Tustin City Council unanimously voted to hire David Biggs as city manager, he has been unceremoniously sacked from the job in a 3-2 vote.
So far, no explanation has emerged for why the city would fire the former Redondo Beach assistant city manager so soon, but rumors have already begun circulating that he somehow ran afoul of Mayor Jerry Amante, a conservative Republican with a penchant for insulting public speakers and fellow council members in public and otherwise acting like a prick.
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The Orange County Register ran a story yesterday about Biggs' firing, which you can read here. It provides no answer to the mystery behind his abrupt departure other than stating that Amante felt Biggs' performance was not “satisfactory.” The article also noted that Biggs “beat out 55 candidates for the position” and had a lengthy background in public administration.
Meanwhile, The LiberalOC's Dan Chmielewski penned a blog post noting Amante's reputation for running the city like a personal fiefdom.
“[Biggs] likely didn't anticipate . . . the way Mayor Jerry Amante wants things run,” Chmielewski wrote. “Amante was the target of [a] rally against the city council majority's lack of respect for the members of the community who disagree with them. Amante claimed the protest was purely partisan, and he's right. Those who protested don't like Mayor Amante.”
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).