After more than 34 years in law enforcement, Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rod Uyeda announced Tuesday his intention to retire after the first of the year and asked the city to begin searching for his replacement.
The same day Uyeda formalized his plans to leave, the city announced its intention to hire Seal Beach City Manager David Carmany as its new city manager, the person who will be responsible for recruiting Uyeda’s successor.
Uyeda cited a desire for more time with his family as his reason for leaving. He said that juggling conflicting schedules as his kids — Ian, 9, and Ripley, 7, — have grown has taken a toll on him and his wife, Jennifer, who is a sergeant in the Torrance Police Department.
“I just really want to spend more time with them,” Uyeda said. “I have a strong sense of obligation to the City of Manhattan Beach, but my family comes first. I’m starting to miss important events in their lives.”
He also said that he wants to spend more time with his 89-year-old mother, who recently had a stroke.
Uyeda, 54, will retire at nearly 100 percent of his $207,000 salary, due to a combination of pensions he will receive for his work in Manhattan Beach, Pasadena and as a cadet . He will leave behind $302,142 in total salary and benefits combined.
Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery credited Uyeda with the city’s decreasing crime rate every year since he took over the MBPD, and praised him for bringing back community-based policing.
“He’s made a very safe city even safer,” Montgomery said.
Though Uyeda expressed a desire to retire earlier this year, he told the city he would stay on until a new city manager was found.
“Back then, I thought the city manager search would be over soon,” Uyeda said.
When the search dragged out to nearly a year, Uyeda said he could not wait any longer and told officials at the end of October that he wanted his last day with the city to be Jan. 10. However, he said that he would stay until a replacement is found, if so requested by the new city manager.
Carmany was scheduled to meet Uyeda yesterday.
“We’ll start from the perspective that we will handle this on the basis of merit and do a thorough search,” said Carmany, whose appointment to city manager will be voted on by the City Council at its Dec. 7 meeting.
The earliest at which a permanent replacement could be chosen would be April 1, Uyeda said.
“The position is going to be in high demand,” Montgomery said. “But look how long it took us to find a city manager. This search needs to be just as painstaking as the city manager search.”
Uyeda said it is likely that one of his two captains, Derek Abell – who has been with the MBPD for roughly 20 years — will apply for the chief position. Abell did not immediately return calls for comment.
Captain Randy Leaf, who has been with the MBPD for nearly 31 years and is eligible to retire, said he is not sure yet whether he will apply for the department’s highest post.
The city recently sent out Requests for Proposals for police and fire chief applicants, and Montgomery expects to have an initial list of candidates by next month.
“It’s going to leave a huge void in our department,” Leaf said. “[Uyeda’s] done a good job in the time he’s been here and made a positive impact.”
Uyeda was born and raised in East Los Angeles and has lived in Palos Verdes for the past 12 years. He began working as Manhattan Beach’s police chief in 2006, after serving 29 years with the Pasadena Police Department, where he worked in patrol, traffic, training, detectives, vice-narcotics, and served as a field training officer. He left PPD at the rank of commander and agreed to stay in Manhattan Beach for five years.
On Tuesday night, Uyeda sent out an email to his staff that it is “with some degree of sadness” that he will leave.
Montgomery said he hopes Uyeda will stay on until his replacement is found, noting that Uyeda would like to handle the results of an ongoing Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigation into a hit-and-run car accident in January in the city, which involves three off-duty MBPD cops and the officer who responded to scene.
“It happened on his watch,” Montgomery said. “I think it’s a matter of pride to be here through the whole process.”
Uyeda said that at the earliest, the administrative part of the investigation could be completed in two months, if the case goes before the district attorney in the next couple of weeks. The Sheriff’s Department must decide whether any criminal charges should be sought by Jan. 31, one year from the date of the incident.
“It will up to the city manager if he wants me to stay through the process,” Uyeda said.
With the sheriff’s investigation, no permanent city manager, tighter budgets, a crackdown on last summer’s Six-Man Volleyball Tournament and the loss of an officer to cancer, Uyeda said the past year has been the most stressful of all five he’s spent with the city.
However, under his watch, he believes that the MBPD has exhibited more accountability and community responsiveness.
“I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in Manhattan Beach,” Uyeda said. “I have felt like the luckiest guy in the world every day I’ve been here.” ER
