2018 Year in Review: Manhattan Beach
Leadership flux, MBUSD challenges, and a new Roundhouse mark 2018
Manhattan Beach experienced a year of unusual flux in its leadership realms in 2018. A formerly up-and-coming city manager was replaced by a trusted City Hall hand. A pioneering female police chief was replaced by a rising star who also made history as the city’s first African American chief. A fire chief was forced out by his crew. A new mayor took the gavel who arrived full circle, closing the loop on a political career that began a quarter century ago as the city’s youngest councilman. In the school district, two new school board trustees, Jen Fenton and Sally Austin Peel, took a seat at the dais.
Other big stories in the city included the reopening of its signature Roundhouse Aquarium, the culmination of a three year quest by Skechers president Michael Greenberg that began days after his son Harrison died in 2015; a reinvigoration of the city’s public art program; the passing of a parcel tax earmarked to give MBUSD more financial stability; and a somewhat shocking deterioration of many of the school board campuses, where rampant mold was found and, at the high school, asbestos was disturbed.
The city also experienced a terrible tragedy, as three of the victims in the Route 91 Music Festival mass shooting in Nevada were from Manhattan Beach.
Danaj’s exit, Moe’s ascension
Three days into the new year, the City Council somewhat mysteriously moved to part ways with City Manager Mark Danaj, who’d been hired from the Bay Area just three years earlier with a reputation as a tech-savvy and dynamic young management star. He was fired “without cause” and due to personnel restrictions, the council was mum on the reasons behind his departure.
It wasn’t that hard, however, to read the tea leaves. A new council majority had campaigned on fiscal responsibility. Danaj’s administration had been relatively free in its spending, particularly on increasing the size of management; four new positions, including the city’s first-ever economic vitality manager and assistant city manager, had been created at Danaj’s recommendation. Further, more than $10 million had been spent on consultants.
“We study a lot, we delay a lot, and we spend money on things we don’t necessarily need. It’s time to get things done,” Councilman Steve Napolitano said during his campaign.
The council’s choice in a replacement was also telling. Bruce Moe was a 29 year City Hall veteran who’d never had aspirations to run the show. Instead, as the city’s finance director, he was a quietly steadying influence behind the scenes, guiding the city to its vaunted AAA bond rating and investing its money carefully.
Councilman Richard Montgomery credited Moe for the city’s financial stability.
“Throughout the Great Recession, most cities in California were folding, some going into bankruptcy, a lot losing all their investment funds,” Montgomery said. “We had no layoffs and our investments didn’t lose a dollar. What other cities can say that?”
“Who better than the finance director with 29 years experience in the city who knows not only where every penny is buried, but where it comes from?” Montgomery said of Moe’s appointment as city manager. “He knows what makes city finances tick…He knows we can run the city in a more lean manner because we’ve done it before.”
The firing of Danaj came more clearly into focus in September, when the Silicon Valley Voice reported that he’d been the subject of a CalPERS investigation surrounding his rather unusual hiring by the city of Santa Clara. Shortly before Danaj’s premium-level retirement plan was about to expire, he was hired to position created the day he was hired (a $180,000 a year part time job) and both the city manager and assistant city manager doing the hiring were his former colleagues, the latter being Nadine Nader, who he’d hired as assistant city manager in Manhattan Beach.
“Same story, different city,” an anonymous City Hall source in Manhattan Beach said. Danaj was issued no city badge and there were no records that he ever actually was at Santa Clara City Hall, although CalPERS was unable to prove he didn’t perform work for the city. Danaj worked eight weeks there, earning $17,928 for a reported 153 hours — including $5,872 in administrative leave. He left when he was hired as city manager for Fremont, a significant step up from his previous employment, at $300,000 a year.
Manhattan Beach Police Department Chief Derrick Abell. Photo
Abell’s rise
Derrick Abell, a 27-year Manhattan Beach Police Department veteran, was named its new chief in January. Abell became the department’s first African American chief. His predecessor, Eve Irvine, was MBPD’s first female chief. Both are regarded within law enforcement circles as exceptional leaders for reasons far beyond gender or color.
Abell’s rise had its beginnings as a football player at Inglewood High and his strict upbringing by his old-school Southern mother, Virginia, who came from a family of 12 in Alabama.
“My parents had morals and values that were taught to me, and I did the same with my children,” she said. “We know to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You must be strong — don’t let anyone walk all over you — but you help people when you can.”
The new chief, who is a gifted orator, delivered stirring remarks at his induction ceremony at the Joslyn Center in January. Abell recalled a football coach who noticed he had duct-taped cleats and took him out to a mall to buy him new shoes as both a turning point in his life and an example of the power of serving others.
“What I would say to you today…It’s not about Derrick Abell. It never has been. It should be about us,” he said. “Everyone in this room has an opportunity, has a gift — the ability to give, and the ability to serve others before self. When you do that, you have a profound impact on somebody out there. A lot of people in this room have degrees, certificates. We place them on our walls; we have trophies throughout our houses, even in the P.D. But what is that at all, if you are not able to give that to someone before you leave this Earth. So think about that today, as we leave, take that opportunity to maybe share a word with someone. Wisdom — people in this room have years of wisdom that you can pass onto someone else. Take that time to pass on that wisdom to someone else. Many of you have the ability to connect with people; share a few words. Uplift someone; build that self esteem, if at all possible. Last but not least, you have the ability to reach into your pocket, buy that young man or young woman a pair of cleats that you may not realize will change their life forever and have a profound impact, such that maybe one day they will lead a police department, and become a chief of police.”
Michael Greenberg in the newly renovated Roundhouse Aquarium, which reopened Tuesday. Photo
The Roundhouse
On the first Monday of November, 1,308 days since the passing of his 19-year-old son Harrison, Skechers president Michael Greenberg stood before the Roundhouse Aquarium at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier. Minutes later, the Roundhouse would reopen, a 2,200 square foot marvel — a small, free state-of-the-art facility that on that day became one the most technically advanced and wonder-inducing aquariums on the planet. Greenberg had led a 42 month campaign to arrive at this day, spearheading the $4 million fundraising effort and providing its bulwark with his family’s own contribution of $2.5 million.
“The skies opened up for us today,” said Greenberg.
Mayor Steve Napolitano called the occasion bittersweet.
“It pains me to say that there is nothing we can do to make up for the loss of your son,” Napolitano said, his voice catching. “Few people will remember the words said here today. But there is not a doubt in my soul that through your generosity in creating this tribute, he will live on in the enchantment and awe on the faces of thousands upon thousands of children who will pass through these doors. May God bless you and your family.”
MBUSD woes
Bad news rarely emanates from the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, one of the highest performing school districts in the country. But this year MBUSD experienced some genuine turmoil, and it emanated from the district’s buildings. First, in August, a contractor under the supervision of MBUSD facilities management made the inexplicably bad decision to sand flooring in the Mira Costa High School library, which disturbed asbestos and resulted in the LA County Department of Public Health closing the library until November. Adjacent textbook storage rooms were likewise quarantined, meaning many Mira Costa students had to endure most of a semester without textbooks.
Meanwhile, mold problems were discovered at campuses throughout the district, something a handful of teachers had reported for years. At a school board meeting in November, Shawn Chen, the president of the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association, said that between 30 and 35 teachers are currently without classrooms due to mold remediation processes. At least five teachers and three students, she said, have suffered health problems that appear to be related to mold exposure. Chen laid the blame directly on MBUSD leadership.
“This is an ongoing issue that they are too late to and not proactive enough to fix,” Chen said. “They are trying to whitewash the problem. It seems like the only reason they are fixing it is because it can’t be ignored.”
The MBUSD Board of Education allocated $1.2 million for the abatement of asbestos disturbed at Mira Costa High School and mold discovered at schools throughout the district. A fine was also expected to be levied by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for the asbestos incident.
“This has really been an unprecedented experience for us,” MBUSD Assistant Superintendent Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard said.
Board president Karen Komatinsky refused to lay blame on district management.
“At the end of the day, the district is responsible for it — it’s our property, and our project,” she said. “I don’t believe it falls on any one individual. I believe it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances we are facing, for sure, and we are all really disappointed it has resulted the way it did. But I don’t think we are going about our business looking for a head. We’ve got a problem and a lot of those buildings were built in the 1950s. It’s disappointing it was discovered the way it was, but we are not in the business of laying blame on one person. We are in the business of trying to solve the problem and get back to school. We have to fix the problem.”
Members of the Manhattan Beach Firefighters Association appeal to the City Council on March 6. Photo
MBFD turmoil
Firefighters from the Manhattan Beach Fire Department in March did something exceedingly rare within public safety ranks. They went public with a vote of no confidence in Chief Robert Espinosa and made an emotional appeal to the City Council for his removal.
Firefighters said they had privately brought concerns about Espinosa to city leadership more than two years ago, accusing the chief of using intimidation and retaliation within the department and and creating an “ongoing grave situation” leading to a “lack of critical and effective communication, delayed paramedic transport times, and wasteful spending on costly consultants, studies, and investigation,” according to a statement of no confidence made public by the Manhattan Beach Firefighters Association.
At its March 6 meeting, four firefighters pleaded with the council to intervene. Firefighter and paramedic Rudy Mejia, the president of MBFA, wept as he told the council how saddened he was to be standing before the dais airing the department’s grievances.
“On behalf of the Manhattan Beach Firefighters Association…I am begging you in front of the community that we love and that we serve: fix this. Make us a priority,” Mejia said, urging the council to hire a new fire chief who “will get us out of this hole.”
Espinosa stepped down on April 28. His replacement has not yet been named. MBPD Chief Derrick Abell currently serves at the helm of both his own and the fire department.
The once and present mayor
Steve Napolitano was handed the gavel in September after the City Council unanimously voted to make him mayor for a record fifth time in a political career that began 26 years ago, at age 26, as the youngest-ever council member.
“Here’s to you, Steve,” said Amy Howorth, who had just completed her nine-month term in the city’s rotating mayoralship, as she passed the gavel. “This is the last nice thing I’ll probably say to you for a while…You are going to be a fabulous mayor.”
“Thank you for the peaceful transition of power,” Napolitano said. “It was kind of touch-and-go there.”
Napolitano was re-elected to the council last year after previously serving from 1992 to 2005. He subsequently served as a deputy for LA County Supervisor Don Knabe for 11 years and ran for that seat after Knabe retired in 2016, losing to Janice Hahn.
Napolitano, who is an education law attorney and lifelong Manhattan Beach resident, happily returned to where his career had begun. His reason for running for the council at the outset was to have a say in his hometown, which he saw changing from the sleepy little beach town he’d grown up in.
“I wanted to make sure I had input in the town I grew up in and loved,” Napolitano said earlier this year. “I saw little homes being torn down and big homes being put up, and I thought people weren’t being listened to who were concerned about that transformation. So we put in some new standards when I got elected to try and maintain some open space and character.”
Yes on MB volunteers celebrating victory on election night in June (left to right)Mike Brunick, MBUSD school board member Ellen Rosenberg, campaign co-chir Jen Fenton, Wysh Weinstein, Leasa Ireland and campaign co-chair Jeff Serota. Photo
The parcel tax
Measure MB, a $225-a-year parcel tax intended to give the Manhattan Beach Unified School District a stable, local source of funds, was approved by voters on June 5.
The measure, which required two-thirds approval, passed with 68 percent in favor (5,230 votes) versus 32 percent opposed (2,425 votes). The parcel tax will generate $2.65 million annually and expire after six years. Its passage will enable the district to avoid teacher layoffs and educational program cuts.
The Board of Education moved to pursue the parcel tax in March, and a vigorous, community-led Yes on MB campaign quickly coalesced. More than 150 volunteers campaigned on its behalf.
“It was real grassroots,” said Karen Komatinsky, school board president. “This was old school recruiting.”
Campaign co-chair Jen Fenton, who later in the year would win election to the school board, said Measure MB’s passage was a statement of just how much Manhattan Beach values education.
“At the end of the day, everybody benefits from strong schools,” Fenton said. “I am so proud to be a Manhattan Beach resident, and so proud of the way the community came together — from the volunteers to local businesses to empty nesters, everybody embraced Measure MB.”
“This campaign was not about catchy slogans,” said MBUSD Superintendent Mike Matthews. “It was about long conversations that a lot of volunteers have had with the citizens of Manhattan Beach to educate and inform. We have intelligent voters who understand the issues, and this victory means we have successfully communicated to them.”
LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who helped Measure MB by funding a few campaign mailers, paid a visit to the campaign party to show support.
“I think what we are finding is if we are going to solve our problems, we are going to have to do it locally,” Hahn said. “I think communities are finding that less help is coming from Washington D.C., less help is coming from Sacramento, and if they are going to make sure their schools are good and they can continue to hire qualified teachers, they have to do it locally. That is what this is — a community controlling its own destiny by raising money to fund its schools. And Manhattan Beach knows that there is a direct correlation between schools and the quality of life and the economy in Manhattan Beach. People move here because of the schools.”