A $220,000-a-year senior manager at San Francisco International Airport is out of a job following a bizarre episode in which he allegedly showed up at a church during a Spanish-language service wearing an “ICE” jacket.

An airport spokesman declined to say whether the departure of former facilities director Peter Acton was directly connected to the June 4 incident at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in San Rafael. But spokesman Doug Yakel confirmed that Acton “has been released from employment by the city and county of San Francisco.”

City Hall sources told us that Acton, 56 — one of a dozen senior managers who reported directly to Airport Director Ivar Satero — had initially been put on leave and was under investigation for work-related violations that included the possible misuse of a city vehicle in connection with the church incident.

According to the predominantly Latino worshipers at the church, a man fitting Acton’s description showed up in a San Francisco city vehicle wearing a jacket that resembled those worn by Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers. They said that “ICE” was spelled out on the jacket and that it had an official-looking emblem on the back.

Witnesses said the man had photographed car license plates in the parking lot and videotaped people inside the church.

However, San Rafael police were not called to investigate until three days after the incident, when complaints began coming into Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman’s office and a local immigration legal services agency.

Acton, who lives near the church, told police he had “prior unresolved complaints” about noise from church services and went there June 4 to gather evidence to support his claims, according to a police-issued statement that did not identify Acton by name.

As for the ICE jacket? Acton told police that he had purchased it online. Investigators concluded it was a novelty item and wasn’t realistic enough to warrant charges of impersonating a federal officer.

Acton did not respond to our calls seeking comment.

Inve$tigate: In keeping with its tradition of big-name and big-bucks investigations, the University of California will pay up to $210,000 for an independent look into allegations that President Janet Napolitano’s office interfered with a recent state audit into its spending habits.

UC will pay the law firm of Hueston Hennigan a “blended” rate of $595 an hour for partners who work on the investigation and $395 an hour for associates. The tab will be capped at $165,000, unless the UC regents give the OK to spend more.

In addition, UC is tapping former state Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno to help with the investigation for a fee “not to exceed $45,000.”

The investigation was prompted by a state audit that found that Napolitano’s office had squirreled away $175 million and had tampered with campuses’ responses to a state survey on the effectiveness of programs run by the president’s office.

While $210,000 for an investigation is a hefty price, it is just a fraction of the $1 million that the president’s office spent investigating allegations of wrongdoing by former UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi. That probe, headed by former U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, led to Katehi’s resignation in August.

In 2012, UC paid $445,879 to the security consulting firm Kroll Associates to help with a task force headed by former state Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso looking into the pepper spaying of student demonstrators by UC Davis police.

More recently, the president’s office spent $57,671 on the probe into how outgoing UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks received a free campus gym membership, personal training sessions and an elliptical machine — perks that totaled all of about $5,000.

Monica Lozano, who chairs the Board of Regents, declined to discuss the review of the president’s office while it is under way.

As for the other investigations, UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said UC had “a legal and ethical responsibility to determine the facts when there is credible evidence that might suggest improper activity.”

And finally: Emirates Team New Zealand has been thrashing Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA at the America’s Cup in Bermuda, and the Americans will need a dramatic turnabout to keep the title.

But judging by one recent news report, the regatta is also stirring political waves for the island nation of Bermuda over the cost of the event.

“The Bermuda government has spent up to $77 million securing the rights to host and stage the 35th America’s Cup,” said Radio New Zealand, “and many locals believe the money would have been better spent on social infrastructure such as schools.”

Sound familiar?

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross