The La Puente employee mystery solved

So Monday's closed session meeting to "CONSIDER PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE" had nothing to do with City Attorney James Casso, city officials tell me.

Apparently, an employee who was "released not too long ago after a long history of reprimands," made an appeal to the City Council to get his job back, Mayor Louie Lujan said.

It didn't work.

"It had nothing to do with any department heads or any management staff," Lujan said. "It's someone within the Parks and Rec Department ... Someone in the capacity of like a groundskeeper."

Meanwhile, Casso's job could be on the line.

The city is seeking out proposals for legal services, but it has nothing to do with the employee evaluation the Council did last week on Casso, Lujan said.

Apparently during that closed session evaluation last month, the Council decided on a 3-2 vote to seek out proposals from other firms -- something the city hasn't done since Casso came on board in 2001.

"We owe it to our residents to allow the market to show us what is out there," Lujan said. "We can take whatever action is necessary as result of what was discussed in the review process."

Lujan said Casso was amicable about the process, and the move is in no way a reflection of Casso's performance. Instead, it has to do with a recommendation made to the city by Management Partners -- the firm hired to go over processes at City Hall.

So is Casso on the outs? Not necessarily.

"All options are going to be laid on the table and we're gonna weigh each option and determine which option is the best one for the city," Lujan said.