"Interim City Manager Bern Ewert will be around for a while.

In an unusual arrangement, City Council decided Thursday to keep Ewert on as interim manager for a full year longer than planned when the Virginia-based consultant was hired in January to straighten out the city's serious financial problems.

Rather than name Ewert permanent city manager, council extended his contract 12 months beyond May 3.

Attorneys for the local League of United Latin American Citizens and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had sought a court order earlier Thursday to prevent Ewert's appointment as permanent manager.

The groups' state district court lawsuit argued mainly that the appointment of a permanent manager within 60 days of a municipal election would violate the city charter. The next election is May 4, only 50 days away.

Since Ewert's appointment technically remains an interim one, NAACP President Leroy Hoskins said he'll talk to the groups' attorneys on how to proceed.

But Hoskins and others criticized council for paying a Dallas head-hunting firm $24,000, then not talking to any of the 63 applicants for the permanent job.

The city has laid off several people since Ewert, 53, a former Roanoke, Va., city manager, took over. Hoskins said the $98,500 salary and housing and transportation benefits in Ewert's new contract seem exorbitant during a general belt-tightening.

Mayor Barbara Crews said Ewert's performance -- he has forced department heads to pare about $1.9 million in expenses -- justified not interviewing other candidates.

"Councils rarely get to have a dress rehearsal with a candidate, and that is what we have done under extremely difficult circumstances,"Crews said.

Council fired longtime City Manager Doug Matthews in December. Critics said Matthews, who was paid about $80,000 after 10 years, managed the city's finances poorly and lost touch with some key department heads. Matthews denied the claims.

Shortly after taking over, Ewert said the city faced a $2.3 million deficit this year and had one of the lowest bond ratings possible.

Before council extended his contract, Ewert defended his recommendation to cut six supervisory police positions to save $100,000 a year. Council decided to allow police union officials to present alternative plans to Ewert.

Councilman Danny Allen, a black, said he voted for the interim contract extension and he thinks the choice will satisfy many who opposed the sudden move to keep Ewert on without looking at other candidates.

Ewert, whose new contract calls for a six-month performance evaluation, said he'll propose more economies in government while trying to promote new jobs and better neighborhoods.

"One-third of the housing in this city is substandard," he said.

He said he hopes to build a partnership between the city, local businesses and large non-profit employers such as the University of Texas to help improve the community." (Kevin Moran, Houston Chronicle, March 14, 1996)