City FINALLY Confirms Employee Leaves

IT'S ABOUT TIME!
In correspondence released to local media outlets today, Costa Mesa Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Rick Francis, confirmed that two employees have been placed on administrative leave.  Here is the text of his statement, including the note that follows as part of it:

I will confirm that the two city employees have been placed on paid administrative leave (NOT SUSPENSION) pending the completion of an internal investigation the city is conducting relative to allegations that have surfaced concerning fiscal policies and procedures that may not have been followed in connection with the city’s 60^th Anniversary celebration.

Note: [In general terms, suspensions are reserved for employees who have had allegations of wrongdoing sustained against them and are typically for a fixed duration of time. This is NOT the case in this particular matter.]

LONG OVERDUE

In my opinion, this acknowledgement is more than a week overdue and that tardiness has only added fuel to the fires of speculation that have been burning throughout the city since word first leaked out last week.

A PERSONNEL ISSUE 

I suspect we won't hear much more from the City on this issue.  History shows us that they will keep everything very close to the vest as what is essentially a personnel matter gets sorted out.