The Hermosa Beach City Council engaged a heated political debate Tuesday night regarding the recent controversy surrounding Mayor Kit Bobko and the unexpectedly public process concerning the hiring of the new police chief.
The debate was sparked by a letter addressed to the council by former Mayor George Schmeltzer, itemized on the council’s agenda, in which he said Bobko, “Completely circumvented a long-standing procedure whereby the City Manager selects the Chief of Police, not the City Council, and definitely not the Mayor.”
Bobko originally attempted to delay the issue by moving the item later in the evening, but Council Members Jeff Duclos, Howard Fishman and Peter Tucker fought back
“Why don’t we save this until the end, Jeff?” Bobko said, interrupting Duclos’ initial comments on the agenda item. “Listen, public comment has already been closed, there is nothing now, announcements have been made…”
“Point of order mayor,” Duclos said, cutting through Bobko’s statement.
“There’s a point of order that we handle other matters…” said Bobko.
Duclos countered, asking the City Attorney whether this was the appropriate time to discuss the matter at hand.
“This is the time to consider taking action on Mr. Schmeltzer’s letter,” City Attorney Michael Jenkins said reluctantly.
“Okay, what would you like to talk about?” said Bobko, abruptly.
The debate was in response to a press release Bobko composed two weeks ago announcing his support for Cecil Rhambo, an assistant sheriff at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, one of two final candidates for Hermosa Beach Police Chief. Just days after Bobko made his announcement, City Manager Tom Bakaly sent out a city-sanctioned press release publicizing his decision to hire the other finalist Sharon Papa, currently an assistant commanding officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.
“This is something that’s worthy of council discussion in a public forum such as we have today,” Duclos said. “… Most rules with disruptive behavior deal with the public, there are few remedies for a council body when it comes to disruptive or destructive behavior by individual council members. It’s no small matter to publically reproach a colleague, but we should be clear, this is no small transgression. It’s an affront to the authority and process and in this instance, a process that should have been celebrated for its thoroughness and outstanding results.”
Duclos then took direct aim at Bobko.
“It’s characteristic of a pattern of putting personal agenda over policy and over practices,” he said. “…It’s time for a wake up call from this council for us to let the mayor know that his actions are not okay, and that you, Mayor, owe this council and especially the city manager an apology.”
Duclos cited a city code related to city manager relations, which he argued was violated by Bobko: “The city council and its members shall deal with the administrative service of the city only through the city manager, except for the purpose of inquiry, and neither the city council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the city manager. The city manager shall take his orders and instructions from the city council only when sitting in a duly held meeting of the city council and no individual councilman shall give any orders or instructions to the city manager.”
“A while back we all took a pledge to a code of ethics,” said Tucker. “I feel the ethics [were] broken… I don’t feel it was right. It’s always the city manager’s duty to pick his own department heads… it’s his decision. We gave him his marching orders, and he has to find his troops to carry out our orders. We’re not here on a day-to-day operation; I think that he does need the respect. I’m sorry it happened, but I think an apology is in order and I think it undermined the authority to govern when we basically gave him that right.”
“I believe grandstanding for a job applicant that is under the jurisdiction of the city manager is inappropriate and unprofessional,” Fishman said. “We have a protocol set up with press releases via city channels – this didn’t come from the city, it came from the mayor, and in the four years since being on this council I’m unaware of any of my colleagues putting out a press release independently. I agree that an apology should be made, but I’m also wondering if the mayor is going to cease and desist this unprofessional behavior because frankly, I’m sick of it.”
Councilmen Michael DiVirgilio added that he spoke to the mayor face-to-face on the day of the press release and told him what he thought about his preemptive actions.
“I don’t need to grandstand in the papers, I don’t need to get him to apologize to me in public,” DiVirgilio said. “… I think it’s odd that we’re asking him for an apology like our feelings are hurt, when it’s pretty clear what happened, and I’m pretty clear we’re going to have a great police chief… I find the contradictions to be the bigger problem… I think the display of what is right when it’s convenient to one’s rightness is what aggravates me the most… I’m all for critiquing the mayor, and I have done it personally, but lets be clear – lets critique the process and do it for ourselves, not the guy sitting next to us.”
“I for one am not for critiquing the mayor,” Bobko answered. “I appreciate your input, but I disagree. The thing that strikes me the most is for all of my alleged misdeeds – again I think there were none – for all that Mr. Schmeltzer wants to critique me, it didn’t have a lot of impact… I’m pleased that we got who we got, and yet I would have preferred someone else. If that’s a problem for the three of you, that’s okay.”
The search for a police chief has been ongoing since former chief Greg Savelli’s resignation in January, 2012. The city hired a headhunter to find a candidate, but then had to begin the process again after the final applicant was found to be on leave and under investigation in his own department. The decision to hire Papa came after the second round of applications.
“The process was so deeply flawed the first time we did it that I felt compelled on your behalf as residents to weigh-in and make my opinion known,” Bobko said. “Did I influence the city manager? No, he did what he wanted to do. Did I go to the city manager and tell him to do something? I didn’t do that either. Did I go to the public and say who I preferred? Yes. If the problem is that I made my opinion known, I stand guilty as charged. Ladies and gentlemen, I think you elected me to make my opinion known and tell you what I think of the issues that come before this body… I am disappointed that you, instead of embracing the idea that we could have a debate about these things, instead you wish to silence me… In this case all I did was make my opinion known, and at the end of the day the sum total of my opinion was zero and the city manager chose who he wanted to choose and we’ll all move forward.”
Duclos then made a motion that city staff prepare a resolution to officially condemn Bobko actions and reprimand his conduct on paper.
“Given the fact that when you had an opportunity to take the high road and make an apology for an action that was inappropriate, I request staff be directed to prepare a resolution of censure of Mayor Bobko for willfully and recklessly publishing a personal press release during an ongoing police chief recruitment process endorsing one candidate, and in public comments disparaging the other,” Duclos said. “And in doing, he undermined the authority of the city manager, misrepresenting his role in the evaluation process; violated ethical standards as well as the city council approved code of conduct and acted in complete disregard for the city council norms and procedures.”
Fishman immediately seconded the motion.
“I’d like to amend the motion,” Bobko said. “I want a substitute motion if the maker would accept it, that we add that he also doesn’t believe in the Easter bunny. Are we really going to do this? There’s nothing on the agenda, there’s nothing to be done.”
“I think the code has been violated and I will support the motion,” Tucker said. “… This is not what this city’s about. The city is about this council preserving the beach life that we all came here to enjoy… We’re going to move on, we need to move on to make this a peaceful community and that starts on the dais, all five of us need to work together to make this community better. But sometimes we need to say, ‘I know what you did was wrong and we all need to abide by the rules.’ And we have a code of conduct we agreed on.”
The council majority, with Bobko and DiVirgilio opposing, directed staff to prepare a resolution censuring the mayor. The matter will be revisited the second meeting in September.
“Well this is exciting stuff,” Bobko said. “You can put me in the same chapter as, I guess, Bill Clinton and other famous impeachment people, although I didn’t have any sex.”
Towards the end of the meeting, DiVirgilio asked the council to direct staff to return with a formalized procedure on how to hire personnel within the city. Only Bobko supported the motion.
“Shocking, no support,” Bobko said. “My trial on whatever the charges are – I’ve forgotten, not flossing regularly or making my bed in the morning and all the rest of it – will occur on September 10, and I will not be here. So gentleman, if you want to try me in absentia like Slobodan Milosevic or someone in The Hague, I invite you to do it. I’m sure it will be easier for you if I’m not here… I suggest we move it to the second meeting in September so at least I can be present for my lynching.” ER
