For Mr. Davies, the rejection had to have been difficult. But he pledged his fealty to the new chief. He said he would gladly help him in the transition.
“I am not going anywhere,” Mr. Davies said yesterday. “I never have applied for a job with any other department. I want to be the Police Chief here because this is where my loyalties are.
“I will do what I can to support Chief Pedersen take our department forward. I have no intention of going anywhere else.”
The Qualifications of Davies
Of his second try for the job in two years, he said, “I did the best job I could.”
Mr. Davies identified six qualifications he believed made him a strong candidate. “A positive vision of success for our Police Dept., leadership qualities, quality education, experience, integrity and institutional knowledge.”
Ms. Seabrooks, reported to be the heir apparent in Santa Monica, was a runnerup finalist for the second time in two years.
The well-cloaked late night climactic scene involving nine persons ignited a spate of bitter speculation about Mayor Albert Vera’s role.
Since it has broken into the open, the dispute threatens to engulf the changing of the guard.
At issue is whether Mr. Vera, given his recent volatile, complex history with the Police Dept., should have been allowed to participate in the decision-making process.
“Albert has a very personal stake in the outcome,” three prominent City Hall insiders agreed. “He should have recused himself. If he wouldn’t, he should have been stopped. By somebody. This is crazy. How can you let him vote on the next boss of an officer who is suing him?”
“Another reason this stinks,” one official said, “is that I believe the vote was about punishing Hank. The guy never had a chance.
“Do you hear me? This stinks. I don’t know what can be done. Maybe nothing. But I hope this is not the end of it.”
The sensitively positioned Mr. Vera is the target of a multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed last year by Police Officer Heidi Keyantash stemming from a spectacular case involving his son Albert Jr.
Highly placed City Hall insiders contend that Mr. Vera set out to “gain revenge” against Mr. Davies for roles that he allegedly played in separate but linked dramas two years ago.
Further, some City Hall veterans believe that the acerbic fallout from the events of Saturday, Aug. 7, ’04, when the younger Mr. Vera was cited by the Police Dept., led the most recent Police Chief, John Montanio, to immediately start looking for a new job.
He Was the Mayor’s Choice
Mr. Montanio, the handpicked choice of the influential Mr. Vera to succeed the legendary Ted Cooke, was pelted with scorching criticism after the citation for not telling anyone.
The other four members of the City Council were furious with the chief. They demanded to know why he never notified them, formally or otherwise. The public implications were that Mr. Montanio was protecting his longtime friend Mr. Vera Sr.
The explosive events surrounding Mr. Vera Jr.’s citation did not become known for more than three weeks. Radio station KFI broke the story on Tuesday, Aug. 31. The Los Angeles Times repeated the highlights in the following morning’s edition.
As a result of the chief’s non-disclosure, an investigation of Mr. Montanio was conducted by an outside source, and he was cleared.
The bitter feelings vented during those events not only lingered but still have not gone away nineteen months later.
It was in the nineteenth month of Mr. Montanio’s abbreviated term, last Oct. 20, that he announced his imminent retirement, having maximized his benefits.
What happened to the chief after leaving Culver City was yet another development clouded by mystery. Mr. Montanio explained with vagueness that he admitted was intentional, that he was accepting fulltime employment from the federal government. His duties, he said, involved a security role that could not be further defined.
Mr. Montanio never has been forgiven by some in the city for quitting so fast after long talking about his dream job.
Stability Is the Goal
When the hunt for a successor opened, City Council members said emphatically they were seeking someone who would promise to stay far longer than Mr. Montanio — for the sake of stability.
In fact, Mr. Vera told thefrontpageonline.com yesterday, he chose Mr. Pedersen over the other two candidates because “I believe we have the best chance of keeping him in the job for a long time.”
In the current financial environment, police officers commonly retire after thirty years when they have maxed out their benefits. The experience of the three finalists is almost identical, ranging from Mr. Pedersen’s twenty-three years to Mr. Davies’ twenty-five years.
“If I could have hired all three of them,” Mr. Vera said, “I would have. There were almost no differencs.”
As of last Dec. 10, Bill Burck, one of the department’s highest ranking long-serving veterans, was promoted to Interim Police Chief.
Mr. Burck announced earlier that he was entering retirement when the new chief arrived.
As of late yesterday afternoon, though, no city official would estimate when Mr. Pedersen (pronounced PEE-duhr-sehn) would take office.
The official wing of the city appeared to have been casual in the way in which the principals were informed of the results.
Hungry to know the identity of their new chief, police officers assembled early in the morning for an announcement. It never came.
In an age of instant communication, the key players themselves — especially Mr. Pedersen and Mr. Davies — were the last to know.
They heard the news originally through other channels.
Mr. Davies did not formally learn of his elimination until 11:30 a.m. yesterday. The call did not come from a city official. It was made by the chief headhunter for the executive search team of Murray & Associates.
News Was on the Lunch Menu
Finally, at 12:10, hours after City Hall insiders had begun arguing over the route taken to a surprise conclusion, police officers heard that their popular friend was out and that Mr. Pedersen was in.
The news roiled some members of the Police Dept., especially those who were counting on Mr. Davies winning. In the grumbling that followed, Mr. Vera’s role in Mr. Davies’ defeat was prominently mentioned.
The outcome that was sizzlingly debated by the City Council effectively marked City Hall’s return to the secretive culture that dominated operations during the twenty-seven-year tenure of retired Police Chief Ted Cooke.
In personality and management style, the congenial Mr. Pedersen never will be mistaken for the iron-willed Mr. Cooke, said persons who know both chiefs.
A native of Inglewood and a member of the Hawthorne Police Dept. before moving to Signal Hill seven years ago, the forty-five-year-old Mr. Pedersen is regarded by insiders as the lone leavening factor in a scenario liberally salted with controversy.
“If the fallout happens to spoil his transition, it would be too bad and very undeserved,” a law enforcement who knows the new chief told thefrontpageonline.com. “Chief Pedersen is a wonderful person, and he is an excellent police officer.”
