Political Football in Hermosa Beach

According to public records regarding Bobko's endorsement of Hermosa Beach Police Chief, former councilmember George Schmeltzer, in communication with current councilmembers Howard Fishman, Jeff Duclos, and Peter Tucker, give the impression that they were looking for trouble rather than seeking to ensure candor, transparency, and respect for the selection process of the Hermosa Beach Police Chief.

In other words, they are turning the appointment of the next police chief into a political football, even though Mr. Schmeltzer had shared, and the council then read, the following from the former councilmember's letter:

"Hermosa Beach does not want to return to the days when the Chief's office was a political football."

Ready, set, hike! (or rather, yikes!)

The emails back and forth among the three councilmembers, the City Manager, and Schmeltzer look more like "touch back", faking, and then "touch down".

In the last council meeting, Schmeltzer recollected about the dubious practices of former mayors and police chiefs in the 1970s. A mayor sharing his point of view about a candidate for police chief is not a high crime or a misdemeanor, nor should one characterize his communiqués as subversive.

For the record, Bobko shared his remarks with the LA Times in late July. Among his comments:

“We’ve had a string of concerns when it comes to this very important position. I believe Cecil Rhambo will provide enthusiastic, strong and principled leadership for our Department.”

The LA Times  did editorialize:

In an unusual move, Hermosa Mayor Kit Bobko announced his endorsement of Rhambo for the position, calling him “extraordinarily well-qualified.

“Unusual” does not mean “illegal” or “unethical”.

Frankly, this sounds less like a press release and more like an expression of an opinion. Since when does a mayor not have the right, or the authority, to share his views on the proper candidate for a city appointment?

In more back-and-forth discussions on the matter prior to the council meeting, Schmeltzer shared with Duclos the need to find municipal codes to justify a motion of censure. In other words, they were looking for a way to make a play:

2.12. 080 Council-manager relations.

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. (Prior code § 2-15)

This provision has nothing to do with a member of the council sharing his opinions with the press. None. He was not giving orders, and he was not demanding the appointment of his choice.

Finding nothing in the Hermosa Beach code, Schmelzter then cites code from Manhattan Beach in his emails with Duclos:

2.04.080 - Council interference prohibited.

Council and its members shall deal with the administrative services of the City only through the City Manager, except for the purposes of inquiry. . . The Council, nor any member thereof, shall not give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager either publicly or privately.

Why concerned Hermosa Beach residents would reference Manhattan Beach Municipal codes escapes me. Then again, because no municipal code strictly forbids a sitting mayor from making a statement about anyone would likely draw a timely lawsuit, then a harsh rebuke from a federal judge.

Michael DiVirgilio differed with Bobko’s endorsement and related his concerns privately. Then he reprimanded his censuring colleagues:

“I don’t need to grandstand in the papers. I don’t need him to apologize to me.”

DiVirgilio then recounted when councilmembers openly disagreed with the City Manager. They even solicited the opinions of entry level staff. Members also directed staff to review and approve construction projects which favored certain residents. Such undermining of authority in Hermosa Beach has not yet received proper attention. DiVirgilio’s complaints toward the entire process deserve inquiry.

Nevertheless, at the August 13 council meeting Councilmember Duclos moved to draft a motion censuring Bobko, to which he responded with a substitute motion:

“He also doesn’t believe in the Easter Bunny.”
Instead of a motion about Easter Bunnies and Santa Claus, Mayor Bobko might want to try "The Liberty Play", since freedom of speech is getting tackled left and right on the city council, and the current censorious censuring majority has no qualms about it. They didn’t care about former Treasurer David Cohn playing touch football with masseuses in Bell, California

Whatever one's views on Bobko's stance on oil drilling, protecting the environment, or pension reform, the arbitrary focus on Bobko's endorsement to the press does not deserve such "half-time" status.

Instead of touch-and-tackle, a little flag football from Hermosa Beach residents is in order, at the ballot box, one which removes councilmembers who focus on press releases and replaces them with men and women who want to represent their city, not play games, or turn city appointments into political footballs of their own.