Gallant at it Again in Alameda

Not surprisingly, Anne Marie Gallant is suing the City of Alameda at the close of her contract as City Manager. I say this because her abysmal employment record shows she has done so time and again. Take a look:

• 1997 – 2000 – Employed at L.A. Redevelopment Agency; Appraisal controversy and suspension over expense reports; Gallant agreed to resign
• 2000 – 2003 – Employed as General Manager of Development Services at the City of Carson; subpoenaed by the LA County Grand Jury involving contract bidding; she was terminated by the City of Carson and sued the City for $215,000
• 2004 – Employed as City Manager of the City of Gustine, CA; less than one year later, she began interviewing for her next position
• 2005 – Employed as City Manager of King City
• 2005 – Five months later, she was announced as Candidate A for City Manager of Desert Hot Springs
• 2006 - 2007 – Employed as City Manager for Desert Hot Springs; four months after her official position took effect, she resigned stating that she was “involuntarily terminated” in her public settlement agreement and took a severance pay of $119,000
• 2008 – Hired as Finance Director of Alameda
• 2009 – Hired as City Manager of Alameda
• 2011 –placed on administrative leave from a City Council vote on Dec 28, 2010; City Manager 2-year contract expires in April 2011; currently suing the City of Alameda claiming that she was “terminated” and demanding “an amount to be announced, but more than $25,000 according to filings from last Thursday,” according to John Knox White


Stop, Drop and Roll covered her lawsuit claims. I find them baffling. Currently, she is sitting at home being paid the full extent of her contract, which according to the Alameda Sun, is roughly $20,833 A MONTH (based on her $250,000 annual salary). I’m interested to see where her “lost wages” are coming from…

Also, I’d like to see how her “emotional distress damages, attorneys fees and costs” compare to Lena Tam’s, the City Councilmember who she wrongly accused of influencing elections. Tam was completely exonerated by the Alameda DA (Gallant’s attorney then tried to use a Facebook friend status to link Tam with the Alameda DA).

I only hope that the new City Manager doesn’t carry on Gallant’s toxic behavior. I’m sure the current City Council will thoroughly review all references and employment histories of current City Manager applicants to ensure that he or she does not.