by Kevin Cody
The simmering divide between Hermosa Beach City Councilmembers who support, and who oppose City Manager Suja Lowenthal erupted with a public protest at Tuesday night’s special council meeting.
The council chambers and chamber foyer were filled with over 100 city manager supporters, including city staff, school and religious leaders, and residents. Supporters from the City staff included public works employees in orange shirts, the police management team, and three city department heads.
Supporters began organizing after the council agenda posted on the city website last Thursday listed a closed council session for a performance evaluation of the city manager. That evaluation is typically in August, leading to speculation that the closed session was called to fire the city manager.
At Tuesday’s meeting, prior to the closed session, over 30 residents and city employees urged the council to retain Lowenthal. None spoke at the meeting in favor of her termination.
The closed session lasted two hours. When the Council returned to the dais, City Attorney Patrick Donegan announced the City Manager performance evaluation had been continued to the Monday, April 28 City Council meeting.
The council divide over the city manager intensified last November, following Michael Keegan’s election to the Council. Keegan replaced Councilmember Justin Massey, who did not seek reelection in the November 5 election.
Massey and fellow Councilmembers Michael Detoy and Raymond Jackson had formed a prevailing majority, which generally concurred with Lowenthal on issues, which included a sales tax increase, a short term vacation rental ban, and construction of a new civic center.
Keegan joined Mayor Dean Francois and Rob Saemann in forming a new prevailing majority, which opposed many of the previous majority’s and the City Manager’s initiatives.
At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Detoy and Jackson expressed support for Lowenthal and sharply criticized Francois and Keegan.
“Two councilmembers have brought forth this performance review without justification. It undermines trust and signals instability to the community and city staff,” Detoy said.
Councilmember Jackson added, “The Mayor’s actions have sown confusion, wasted time and resources and chipped away at the trust and morale of the staff…. Did the Mayor ever ask to sit down with the City Manager…. Did he talk to her about her performance, her goals, the challenges she’s facing…”
Hermosa Beach Police Captain Landon Phillips, flanked by fellow members of the Police Management Association, told the Council that Hermosa has one of the few fully staffed police departments in California, that the city has a waiting list of applicants, and that it had not lost an officer to another department in five years.
Phillips credited the staffing success to a change in the department’s culture that began with Lowenthal hiring police chief Paul LeBaron five years ago.
In addition to praising Lowenthal’s leadership, Phillips thanked her for her expressions of compassion.
“The day following an officer suffering a career ending injury, she visited him in the hospital. When a woman lost her husband in a Christmas Eve fire, and we delivered the death notification to the wife, the city manager was there to give the wife a hug.”
Saint Cross Pastor Rachel Nyback, in her comments to the council, said, “With due respect to Captain Phillips, Suja didn’t give the widow in shock a hug. She sank to her knees to hold her as she wept.”
Hermosa Public Works Director Joseph SanClemente addressed the council, flanked by fellow Executive Management Group members Chief LeBaron and Community Services Director Lisa Nichols.
“The threat to remove the city manager threatens to throw away the progress we’ve made. And it is a reflection on the entire staff…. We are close to hiring a new Community Development Director. Will people considering our job offers wonder if they will have the support of the Council?” SanClemente asked.
Though no one in the council chambers meeting spoke against the City Manager’s, resident Anthony Higgins telephoned in with what he said was “a dissenting view.”
He accused Lowenthal of being “asleep at the wheel.”
“Examples,” he said, “are the Housing Element, submitted two years late to the State, putting the city at risk of the ‘builder’s remedy.’” (The “builder’s remedy” largely exempts residential developments from local zoning restrictions.)
Higgins also cited city yard improvements that have been seven years in the planning stages; the overbudget remodelings of park restrooms and the Clark Community Building, and the proposed, new Civic Center, of which Higgins said, “The Civic Facilities Group is being led by the nose to the option the City Manager wants.”
Following the meeting, City Attorney Donegan was asked which councilmembers requested the City Manager evaluation be placed on Tuesday night’s agenda.
He issued the following response by email: “Like all things closed session, confidentiality is paramount. Thus, the City has no comment on the exact mechanism or which councilmembers – if any – made the request.” ER
Hermoa Beach is turning into a dystopian hell hole. Focus on why the Pier is rotting full of empty non successful building and businesses, skyscraper level homes being built against code, the fact that there’s basically no green grid and the crime is at an all time high. Pretty interesting they’d target one of the FEW women on staff as well when they have a LAUNDRY list of to dos they SHOULD be spending their time on. How about focusing on how to get the police department paid more?? Just a thought. LOL!!!