|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
A lot of dysfunction over a technicality Food for Thought By BARBARA VENEZIA CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST Sometimes, enough is enough! That's the message the city of Newport Beach should be sending to the Newport Beach Police Management Association now that they're calling for an all-out re-recruitment and a new police chief. By all accounts, Newport Beach Police Chief John Klein has done a good job. He hasn't been accused of corruption and crime isn't escalating. I've been covering discord within this department since April 2008. In all that time I haven't heard anyone say a disparaging word about him personally. On the contrary, he seems well-liked among rank and file, city management, council members and those who know him. So why on earth should NB citizens foot a bill anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000-plus to do a nationwide recruitment search for a new chief, just because the police union's unhappy? Since when does the union call the shots in this city? Seems the only basis for the NBPMA to call for a new top cop is Klein technically wasn't hired properly. NB City Manager Homer Bludau followed the Civil Services rules, which encourage looking within departments for promotions. Seems he wasn't aware there's a contradictory Municipal Code provision that requires an open recruitment for the police and fire chief positions only. Oops! But this is only one example of numerous conflicting regulations in NB city ordinances and codes. Created back in the 1950s, they've been updated and altered without continuity for decades. The city council recently hired a consultant to streamline all conflicting regulations. This also reignites the debate; is hiring an "outsider" verses an "insider" best? Do you choose "fresh eyes" to the situation, or personal experience/history with someone? Back in January the NBPMA petitioned the Civil Service Board to investigate the promotional procedures of the department. Klein gave the investigation his blessing and told me he agreed the guidelines for promotions could be improved. That investigation's under way. Why isn't anyone waiting to hear the outcome before getting their panties in a bunch? If the Civil Service Board rushed to judgment, then this same union would probably be crying foul. Last October Klein 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 was tasked to formulate a list of suggestions to improve the process. So where are those results? Klein, (a 30-year NBPD veteran), put a moratorium on promotions until the Civil Service Board investigation's completed. The NBPMA is not happy. Are we supposed to believe they would be if he continued to promote under rules they're questioning? Isn't that what made them ask for an investigation in the first place? This situation is a mess of misadventure. Sure Klein was promoted by his questionable predecessor, Chief Bob McDonell, and is guilty of that association, but is that justification enough to kick him to the curb? Should the NBPMA and their thirty-some members dictate what happens here? And where is the Newport Beach Police Employees Association in the mix? They're the largest group in this department. Talk about dysfunction. Geez! And I bet you thought your family was complicated! |
|
||