Planning leader placed on leave

Dave Brooks

Huntington Beach’s top planner was officially placed on leave Monday,

opening a floodgate of speculation about his departure.

“It came rather quickly,” Planning Commissioner Bob Dingwall said.

“I had no idea whatsoever. It was like a bolt of lightning out of the

blue.”

The City Council voted, 6-1, with Dave Sullivan opposing, to end

Planning Director Howard Zelefsky’s at-will employment status,

although a clause in his contract allows him to come back to work on

Sept. 12.

After a few days of silence, City Administrator Penny

Culbreth-Graft told planners she was simply clarifying Zelefsky’s

employment status.Building and Safety Director Ross Cranmer will

temporarily replace Zelefsky, Huntington Beach spokeswoman Laurie

Payne said. Zelefsky was reached at his Fountain Valley home

Thursday, but he declined to comment.

“He’s very hurt to be treated this way after so many years of

civil service,” Zelefsky’s attorney Deisel Ricks said.

Zelefsky has a unique contract, negotiated with former Huntington

Beach City Administrator Ray Silver, giving him at-will status --

which means he can be let go at any time, but he also enjoys civil

servant protection that allows him to come back after 30 days.

Culbreth-Graft told planners last week that she was simply

clarifying Zelefsky’s contract by removing his at-will status and

having him work under his civil servant status. Zelefsky’s temporary

replacement, Cranmer, also has both at-will and civil servant status.

If Zelefsky does return, he will have to face mounting concerns

about his performance from some council members and administrators.

City Councilman Keith Bohr said he continues to be concerned with

the pace of change at the Planning Department, which he believes

operates slower than other planning departments in the county. ave to

wait for months to get their projects considered, Bohr said, costing

the city lost revenue and frustrating those seeking to do business in

Huntington Beach.

“I’ve said for years and years that we have a lot of room for

improvement of our entitlement process,” he said. “It needs to be

quicker, efficient and more pro-business.”

Perhaps the 30-day leave will encourage Zelefsky to make

improvements in the planning department, Bohr said.

“Hopefully he comes back and does his job a lot better,” Bohr

said. “This makes you open-minded to changes.”

Zelefsky started working in the city in 1981, but left in 1986 to

become the West Hollywood planning director. Zelefsky returned to the

city in 1989, according to his contract.

“I think a lot of us noticed that he had really changed when he

returned,” former environmental board member Dean Albright said. “He

wasn’t the same; he seemed more ambitious to move up the ladder, and

he knew how to get what he wanted.”

In 1998, Zelefsky was appointed to serve as the director of

planning and oversaw the implementation of every new project in the

city for the next seven years. Zelefsky worked on the massive Pacific

City and Strand downtown developments, expected to be completed next

year. He also oversaw the permit process for the Huntington Beach

Mall, recently renamed Bella Terra.

Zelefsky is one of the last management holdovers from the Silver

administration, many of whom have either left, been dismissed or

transferred to a new position since Culbreth-Graft came on board in

May 2004. Former Assistant City Administrator Bill Workman, the No. 2

man in the Silver administration, left the city in November for a job

in Redondo Beach and eventually lured away the city’s Economic

Development Director David Biggs. Shortly after Workman’s departure,

former Administrative Services Director Clay Martin was forced out,

and then replaced by Public Works Director Bob Beardsley. Paul Emery

now runs the Public Works Department.