Riverside City Manager John Russo was fired Tuesday, April 17, by the City Council — less than 10 weeks after it extended the top administrator’s contract and lavished praise on him.

That Feb. 6 meeting ended with Mayor Rusty Bailey announcing a veto of Russo’s contract, which he said was too generous and poorly timed. The battle that followed — including Bailey filing a lawsuit against the city to establish that he has the power to veto the contract — has dominated much of the discussion by and about city officials since.

Then came a performance review of Russo, which was scheduled for the closed-door meeting Tuesday between the afternoon Riverside City Council session and the night-time meeting. The City Council voted 4-3 to terminate the man they had said did an excellent job. When the 6:15 p.m. night City Council session began, Russo was not on the dais as usual with the rest of the city’s top officials.

Councilmen Steve Adams, Chuck Conder, Mike Gardner and Jim Perry voted to terminate Russo. Councilmen Chris Mac Arthur, Andy Melendrez and Mike Soubirous dissented. Bailey, who doesn’t have a vote on the council, was out of town and not at the meeting.

“The council exercised its at-will authority to immediately end the employment of our city manager, John Russo,” Perry said in announcing the vote. “We thank him and wish him well.”

In a statement sent via city spokesman Phil Pitchford, Russo said:

“I’ve loved working with the great team at the city of Riverside,” he said. “We got a lot done, and there’s much more that will be happening as a result of our efforts. As a proud resident, I am looking forward to Riverside’s future.”

Russo could not be reached for comment. Nor could Bailey.

Perry, speaking on behalf of the City Council, said an interim city manager will be named as soon possible.

Adams said in an interview that the council decided Tuesday to again hire Lee McDougal, who served as interim city manager of Riverside from 2014 until Russo was hired in February 2015.

Adams praised McDougal’s earlier tenure.

“He starts Friday,” Adams said. “This is a win-win-win for the people of Riverside.”

Adams and Gardner, the two councilmen who voted in February to extend Russo’s contract until December 2024 and to fire him Tuesday, both said they had been on the fence since that month.

“A number of things changed, some of which I can’t tell you,” Adams said Tuesday of the difference between the votes. Adams said he voted in favor of the extension — which appeared ready to pass — so that parliamentary rules would allow him to ask the council to reconsider the vote later.

“John did some good things, and on a personal basis I like him — I think he’s a good guy,” Adams said. “But as far as the citizens of Riverside, it no longer matches up.”

Gardner said shortly after the Feb. 6 vote that he had been trying to build a veto-proof majority so Bailey would not “air dirty linen” by starting a public battle over the contract and whether the city charter allows the mayor to veto it.

“Clearly, it didn’t work,” Gardner said Tuesday.

With a majority of the City Council and other city officials standing by an interpretation of the charter that said Bailey didn’t have that power, the mayor went to court against his own city. That court battle, to establish that he does have the power to veto the new contract, was in its early stages as of Tuesday.

A judge ruled against Bailey April 9 by refusing the mayor’s motion to expedite the case, meaning it was expected to continue hanging over the city for at least the next six months.

Perry, who was joined by Conder in opposing the initial contract extension, said he couldn’t discuss the reasons for his vote because it’s a personnel matter.

“I’ve said throughout that this shouldn’t play out on social media and in comment sections,” Perry said in an interview. “This is a personnel matter, and I don’t think it would be fair to anyone involved (to comment on why he voted to fire Russo).”

Soubirous, who has consistently supported Russo, said he had “no idea” what changes would justify voting to extend Russo’s contract in February and voting to fire him in April.

“I think staff is very disappointed,” Soubirous said.

Russo brought several top officials with him from other cities when he began in Riverside.

The decision to fire Russo, but not for cause, means he will keep one of the more controversial elements of his new contract — a 15-year, $675,000, home loan from the city. The contract says that the city “may” require that to be repaid within 180 days “if Employee (Russo) voluntarily leaves employment with Employer or is terminated for cause.”

“All (firing Russo for cause) that does is end up in a lengthy possible lawsuit,” Adams said. “We lose more than we gain.”

Russo joined the city in February 2015. He had been city manager for four years in Alameda in northern California, served five years on the Oakland City Council and was elected city attorney for 11 years. Russo promised an era of openness and accountability after the retirement of City Manager Scott Barber.