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  Some tough questions need to be asked in this city Food for Thought By BARBARA VENEZIA CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST I'm tired of government spending tax dollars with no consequences. Not only are the feds doing it, locally we're getting slammed too. Take the $1.2 million judgment in the trial of Newport Beach Police Sgt. Neil Harvey. How does a good cop, well-educated, medal of valor recipient, not get promoted within the police department when his only criticism is he's too nit picky in his reports? In the real world, that would be deemed efficient and thorough. How could this have been avoided is what we all should be asking. Prior to Harvey's lawsuit, there was a 10-month in-house investigation apparently into his allegations. An investigation that surprisingly found his claims of discrimination unsubstantiated, the Civil Service Board agreed. When spending $1.2 million, I'd like to know what went wrong and who's going to be held accountable. Is the former investigator in this case going to pony up some dough for this judgment …The Civil Service Board? City Manager Homer Bludau's judgment is facing scrutiny in the press these days on several related issues. And what did the City Council know and when is what I want to know. Let's not forget that the NB Police Management Association is walking down the same path Harvey did to find some justice. They've asked the Civil Service Board for an independent investigation into the promotional practices of the NBPD. So who is going to investigate this? Investigator Jim Blaylock was recently hired by the Civil Service Board even though the Police Chief, City Attorney and Police Management Association all recommended investigator Jeff Love as their preferred choice between the two men. When Blaylock was chosen, Chief Klein told me "both men are qualified and either would do a good job." So how do we avoid another costly lawsuit over cops' promotions? Chief Klein says he agrees the process could be improved, and last October, formed a promotional process fact-finding committee of about a dozen police personnel of multiple ranks. Police Management Association President Sgt. Steve Shulman included. The committee's task is to formulate a list of suggestions to improve the process. According to Shulman, a survey in process is producing good suggestions. But it's been five months, what's taking so long? The PMA asked the Civil Service Board to investigate in December, why didn't anyone wait for the committee's report and Klein's reaction? Seems there's more broken here than just the promotional system. When I asked the chief when he expected the committee's findings, he indicated it could be several more months. When he gets the report he'll have to decide what to bring forward. Suggestions will also have to be passed by the firefighters since they fall under civil service rules too. If the suggested changes result in altering the civil service rules, that board will have to approve them. So where does this leave the taxpayers? Will these measures avoid another lawsuit or just a déjà vu of the Harvey fiasco? Timing's perfect for some city official to step in and take a strong lead asking tough questions … but if no one leads and no heads roll after the Harvey verdict, credibility in our city systems will remain deeply damaged. |
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