S. Pasadena to Allow Police Chief to Retire

In a quick turnabout, South Pasadena announced Thursday that embattled Police Chief Thomas Mahoney would be allowed to retire, only days after the city sent him a letter informing him he was about to lose his job.

The agreement, reached in a meeting Thursday by Mahoney’s attorney Patrick Thistle and city officials, allows Mahoney to retire effective April 1, 1997.

Mahoney has been on paid administrative leave and has continued to draw his $97,000 salary since this summer, when his department was tarnished with a sex scandal and allegations that officers covered up a crash involving one of their own. Since then, the district attorney and FBI have announced investigations of the department, and Mahoney has filed a stress claim against the city.

Officials said they do not expect Mahoney to return to the office.

Although city officials since August have privately talked about letting Mahoney go, they also feared a lawsuit from the 49-year-old chief. Last week, they sent Mahoney a letter saying he was to be terminated because “new leadership may enhance the department’s public image,” Thistle said.

City Manager Sean Joyce would not comment beyond a brief statement Thursday, but Thistle said: “It just seemed kind of pointless to drag this out into a public confrontation.”

Thistle would not detail the negotiations or the specifics of the agreement, which he said are confidential. “Everybody’s pleased,” he said. Council members echoed him, saying they hoped to put troubles behind them.