Let’s start with South Pasadena Police Chief candidate Joseph Payne:

The following is an OpEd that failed to make the local paper:

South Pasadena City Manager John Davidson is on the verge of naming a new police chief for our city. The list has narrowed to two finalists and much has been said about the need for a well-qualified leader for our police department that is a “good fit” for South Pasadena. I use the words “Well-Qualified” and “Leader” at the same time because both are essential qualities for a successful police chief.

Mr. Davidson and Assistant City Manager Sergio Gonzalez have undertaken a thorough search for such a person and those selected to compete, by all indications, meet the criteria. Now that we have the final two, I being one of them, I feel it necessary to address some issues. Their motives notwithstanding, I have been portrayed by some opinion pieces as lacking qualifications, being a “union pick”, or receiving political favors. I am not going to go into agonizing detail about this but there is a huge difference between being a union stooge and having the overwhelming support of the rank and file members of the South Pasadena Police Department. These worn- out claims are counterproductive to ensuring the public safety and quality of life we have come to enjoy in our community. I will say with certainty that being a finalist was not a political pay off or a union plan.

Now is the time when we must all get behind the city manager and city council with their selection for police chief. I and Chief Hauptmann are well-qualified police professionals. Although I cannot speak for him, I can and will for myself. In my 37 years as a South Pasadena police officer I served in nearly all capacities that the department has to offer. In the last six years prior to my retirement my duties included emergency preparedness, homeland security, terrorism liaison officer, training and policy, background investigator, recruitment, internal affairs investigator, and reserve coordinator.

I earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration, a management certificate from the California Commission on POST, and countless training and instructor certificates. I worked with our surrounding police and fire departments to enhance our resource sharing capabilities and was a founding member of the mutual aid coalition that our department belongs to. This coalition provides our community with public safety resources that we may not otherwise have. It has provided our officers with the means to train with some of the finest police officers, firefighters, and first responders in the world.

Our ability to recover more quickly from a natural or man-made disaster relies on training and a working relationship with federal, state, and local public safety agencies. On my initiative our department was awarded nearly $500,000 in Homeland Security grants, and we have gone on to win even more awards through our participation in the grant process. We have completely upgraded our emergency communications and response capabilities that would not have otherwise been possible.

As a lieutenant and a sergeant assigned to the Office of the Chief of Police under successive chiefs I served on the command staff and performed the same responsibilities most captains and commanders in ours and other departments perform. To claim that I lack the education, command experience, and training to be a successful chief is patently false and is being ignored by detractors with a political agenda unrelated to public safety. I refuse to enter into a petty debate with them.

In addition to my law enforcement career, I have had the pleasure to know many fine people who live and work in South Pasadena. Community involvement means a lot to me and has little to do with my service to the department. It has been 25 years since South Pasadena has had a local police chief. Retired Police Chief Bill Reese, whom I have the pleasure of calling a friend and supporter, can attest to how important this little known fact is. Chief Reese hired me in 1972 and promoted me to lieutenant in 1986. He knows the importance of a personal sense of community. I am proud of the local roots I and my family have in South Pasadena. If I am fortunate enough to win this appointment I can promise everyone concerned that they will not be disappointed.

Joseph Payne

And this from South Pasadena City Council member Mike Ten:

Again, the Star News continues to fan the conspiracy flames, but with no help from unintended comments of our rookie Mayor, that the council “interviewed” the finalists of the search, not to forget the inaccurate statement of a “vote” taking place during a closed session in Nov-Dec 2009. The council never met with or had input on the whittling down from the original 19 applicants to the 10 or so that were interviewed by the three panels selected by the city manager. We did get to see a list of the 19 applicants after the 10 where scheduled to pass through a gantlet of a professional panel of police chiefs and city managers, a community panel of key stakeholders, and finally a meeting with the senior city departement heads. The council did get feedback from members of the panels who choose to communicate to them i assume, but i never did till last week. The city manager then with the input from all the panels made the selection of the final two applicants. The council after receiving input from the community through letters, emails, voice mails, blog comments, and of course daily on the street contacts all during this process. the city manager felt prior to making the final selection, he gave the council a chance to meet the finalists that the press had already announced from “reliable sources” a week earlier. So the council was given about 15 minutes during a closed session to hear from the finalists on their visions and or perceived solutions to gain some understanding on who we were getting to lead our police force into future. Anything beyond these comments, which are my opinions alone on this topic. Feel free to talk with me one on one anytime.

I’ll be at the Crusin for Roses Car Show this Sunday all day. Or you can find me at the Middle School every morning directing traffic safety.

If any council members want to set the record straight, drop me a line (the link is over on the left) and I’d be happy to yield the floor and give you your own post.

• Ray Bradbury celebrated his 90th birthday in South Pasadena. The Star-News did a nice piece on it but, I think, made a slight boo-boo: “The Fremont Centre Theater regularly shows Ray Bradbury movies.”
• Interesting story in the Wall Street Journal on the Modern Whigs includes this bit: “Nationwide, Whigs point to just two members in political office, both in unpaid, local positions. Alan Reynolds, a 25-year-old engineering consultant who stumbled onto the Whigs by Googling ‘Political Parties,’ holds an appointed post on the Parks and Recreation Commission in South Pasadena, Calif.”
• A little stale for me to mention now, but blogging.la listed the five worst Trader Joe’s parking lots, and didn’t include South Pasadena. Vigorous debate ensued in the comments.
• Writer and urban designer John Leighton Chase, who grew up in South Pasadena, has died. He was 57.
• The L.A. Times once quoted Alhambra City Manager Julio Fuentes as saying, ”This is not just an Alhambra versus South Pasadena issue. We’re fighting for the regional benefit of this freeway. We want to get the traffic off our streets and onto the freeway.” He was talking, of course, about the 710. But now there’s a proposed high-speed rail system that could cut through Alhambra. Is Fuentes for it? “Sure, it’s good for the state, but depending on how it effects our neighborhoods, we’ll fight it.” Sigh.

South Pas Reserve Officer Joe Payne and former Maywood Police Chief Frank Hauptmann both confirmed they’re finalists to fill Dan Watson’s shoes. There’s plenty about Payne here, but I haven’t mentioned Hauptmann before. Besides the video above, here are a couple stories floating around:

• Four Maywood officers allege retaliation for exposing departmental misconduct.
• The L.A. Times was also there when the Maywood Police Department disbanded. ”On behalf of Maywood police employees, this will be our last transmission. Maywood police will now be 10-7, End of Watch. June 30th the year 2010. God bless all of you.”

An agenda for the executive session was labeled “performance evaluation of the city manager,” which an open government expert said violates California’s Brown Act.

Lee has worked in the San Gabriel Valley for several years. From 1990 to 1996 he was the city attorney in South Pasadena until the City Council fired him over concerns about his billing practices.

The city had become embroiled in a wide-ranging scandal that brought down the Police Department.

In 1995, South Pasadena spent $245,000 on Lee’s services even though the city had only budgeted $178,000, then-City Attorney Linda Holmes said.

Lee served as city attorney in multiple area cities, but it looks like in the past week he was canned by Downey, and resigned from Covina and Maywood. He also resigned from his law firm. He remains city attorney for Bell.

Dan Watson

Dan Watson’s run as chief of the South Pasadena Police Department comes to an end on July 1, and a few days later he starts as interim chief of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department. I wanted to ask him a few questions, and he was nice enough to answer them. The full Q&A is after the jump.

Q: Mammoth Lakes! That’s a pretty big change from South Pasadena. How did you decide that’s where you want to be? Are you a skier?

A: I’ve skied once in my life when I was in college and it was a disaster. At this point, I’m past the point of wanting to learn. My wife will be taking it up again, though.

It was a last minute decision to apply and I wasn’t certain I was interested. I’d never been to Mammoth until I drove up for the interview one month ago. During the two hour interview, I “connected” with the Town Manager and other members of the panel. We discussed problems they are facing and it looked like a good challenge and also a fantastic place to live. When I was given a tentative job offer it was easy to accept. We’ve leased a house there and we’re keeping our home here so we’ll have a home base and place to return to.

Q: You’re being brought on as an interim police chief. What happens at the end of the fiscal year?

A: I have been hired on a one year contract. I will be evaluating the Department and making recommendations to the Town Manager on a number of issues including the hiring of a permanent chief. Depending on how everything progresses, there is a possibility that I will become the permanent chief. Whenever I leave, whether it’s in one year or some time after that, we’ll decide whether we want to return to our home, stay in Mammoth Lakes, or move somewhere else.

Q: When you became police chief in South Pasadena, I think there was an expectation that you’d continue on the path of reshaping the culture of the department. Do you think Mammoth Lakes has those same expectations?

A: You are correct about my responsibilities when I came to South Pasadena over 8 years ago. The previous chief was a change agent and he was successful in fixing some problems. My job was to continue the forward progress while restoring a sense of calm and order. The Mammoth Lakes Police Department has a good group of employees. I will be looking at doing some of the same things I did here such as improving management systems and controls. I will also be looking at staffing levels, which seem very low, and making recommendations on them and other issues.

Q: It’s fair to say that your exit from The South Pasadena Police Department hasn’t gone unnoticed. Do you have any words of wisdom for your replacement?

A: The circumstances of my departure have been disappointing. There’s a cliché that applies to police chiefs. We must remain apolitical while working in a political environment. The average tenure of a California police chief is less than 4 years, and many leave under circumstances that are other than what they would like them to be. Most of my advice to the next chief will remain private.

Q: As South Pas police chief, what are you proudest of? Anything you wish you might have done differently?

A: I believe the Department is in better shape than when I got here. I have hired 70% of the current employees and promoted more than 50% of the supervisory and management ranks, and they are my legacy. The next Chief will be taking over a Department with good people committed to providing quality service to the residents of South Pasadena. I am very proud of the work that they do every day.

No doubt the next chief will find areas that need additional attention. I have addressed many, but the next one will see things I didn’t see and make the Police Department better. That’s the value of a change in leadership — new ideas, new energy, and fresh eyes often improve an organization. That will happen here, and hopefully that will happen in Mammoth Lakes after I get there.

Q: What are you going to miss about South Pasadena?

A: The people. No doubt the people. My wife and I have been embraced by the people in this town and we will miss them. Also the City’s management team, and especially the men and women of the Police Department. Being their Chief has been the highlight of my career.

Q: Will you be sticking around for the Fourth of July parade?

A: No. My last official duties will be on July 1. I will be the keynote speaker at the Rio Hondo Police Academy graduation where one of the graduates is Karen Garcia. My last official act will be to swear her in as a South Pasadena Police Officer later that day, and I can’t think of a better way to end my time here. I will be cleaning out my office on July 2, and we move to Mammoth Lakes on July 3. I understand they also have a Fourth of July parade, but I think I’ll wait till next year for that one. No doubt it will pale in comparison to South Pasadena’s celebration.

It has now been moved to the War Memorial building due to some sentiment that it should be held within the city. This, which appeared in the Star-News today, apparently fueled the fire:

“Maybe it wasn’t their brand of sauce, but South Pasadena city officials skipped over Gus’ (sic) Barbecue (sic) in South Pasadena in favor of Pasadena’s Barn Burner Barbecue (sic) to host Police Chief Dan Watson’s going-away party. Fans of the departing police chief can stick a fork in Watson and some slathered ribs on June 30, with the proceeds going to a parting gift for South Pasadena’s top cop, now headed for a similar position at Mammoth Lakes.”

I’m told it’s the same date and time. I can’t imagine 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on a Wednesday is the most convenient time for a party, but then again I’m not an event planner. I added the sics to the story. I could have just corrected them, but a newspaper should know how to spell the names of the businesses it covers. So there. The original brief is here (second item).

*UPDATE: I was just told: “Contact Jeannie Chiu at the City Manager’s office to sign up.  Cost is $20 per person.”

Save the date. Via the Star-News:

South Pasadena Police Chief Dan Watson will be honored during a goodbye party from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Barn Burner Texas Barbeque Restaurant, 1000 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena.

Three things about the story: It doesn’t mention the date (June 30 per the city editor); I think they mean “party” where they say “part”; and I think they might mean “finalists” and not “finalist.” Not great for a story that’s on the site’s front page. Also, to be picky, you don’t have to spell out Avenue if it’s part of a specific address.

*UPDATE: The story has been removed, whatever that means. So I included a screenshot.

*2nd UPDATE: The story is back. And it’s been fixed, fixed, fixed and fixed.

I’m done with the updating, but they reportedly changed the venue.

South Pasadena Council PTA Invites You to a Rally for Our Children

Thursday, March 4, from 3-4 p.m., in front of the SPUSD Administration Building: 1020 El Centro Street

The governor’s budget proposal makes devastating cuts to schools, in the amount of $2.4 billion over the next two years, despite his pledge to protect education. The budget will also decimate children’s healthcare and family services.

For SPUSD these cuts translate to an additional $1,100,000 cut, or 5% of our total budget. This is on top of a $2,000,000 cut in 2009-10 and $3,500,000 that was cut over the last 2 years!

Our children have already lost  instructional assistants and other support positions.  If this proposal goes through, our children stand to lose even more teachers, counselors, arts specialists, and additional support staff!

The System is Broken!

Budget Reform is Crucial!

The Time to Act is NOW!

Letters to our legislators demanding a change in the number of votes necessary to pass a budget and a demand for a stable funding stream for education will be on hand.