City council in
T.O. has abused
its city manager

I want to express my appreciation and respect for Thousand Oaks City Manager Phil Gatch. I quote Dennis Gillette’s published comments: "(Gatch) has contributed significantly to the development of this community. (Thousand Oaks) is truly a much better place for his having been here. The community owes (Gatch) a significant debt of gratitude for his commitment, his skills and his tenacity."

Phil has been a balanced city manager and not favored one side or another but has done what is best for our city and served it well for 38 years. Many people do not know that Phil could have earned $1,200 more a month on retirement than working but stayed with the city because we needed him.

The law prohibits firing a city manager for three months after a new council is seated and it is now three months. Don’t believe what you read and what the new council majority wants you to believe.

Phil Gatch did not resign but was threatened and bullied by Fox that he would be thrown out after (the recent council) meeting if he did not resign. There would be no goodbyes or retirement honors after 38 years and he would be locked out of his office.

For the record, Gatch has done nothing but good works and the city is running as smoothly as possible. This is not about Gatch’s wrongdoing but about Fox’s wrongdoing.

Gatch’s attorney has rescinded his coerced resignation letter.

I also understand that Fox implied he has the votes to fire Gatch and speaks for both councilmem-bers Gillette and Irwin. We all know that both Masry and the mayor fully support Gatch.

The council has the right to terminate the city manager, but this is not the way we want our elected officials to conduct themselves.

I believe that Fox has grossly abused his powers under the color of authority. Fox could care less that the taxpayers of Thousand Oaks will have to foot the bill of close to a quarter million dollars to pay off Gatch’s contract, not to mention that Fox has opened the door to additional litigation and liability.

Fox’s action merits a grand jury investigation. I believe that Fox’s actions could be characterized as malfeasance.

The bottom line is that no one should be treated the way Andy Fox has treated Phil Gatch and it’s time to stand up and do the right thing. This is not the way we want public officials to conduct business in our city.

Debbie Gregory

Thousand Oaks