Santa Ana Gives New City Manager a Golden Parachute, Throne

In this day and age of municipal penny-pinching, the Santa Ana City Council's hiring of Phoenix city manager David Cavazos to head OC's county seat is shocking many for its largess. Cavazos will earn a salary and benefits package of more than half-a-million dollars, making him one of the highest-paid city employees in California, and the second-highest-paid city manager in the state. Yet Santa Ana officials are defending the move, claiming Cavazos will improve the city's governance and image and is worth every peso. Are Santa Ana council members right to shower Cavazos with money, or is its continued agony in being the Norma Desmond of OC cities clouding its judgement?