Friday, January 8, 2010

Sad Day for South Pasadena

The City Council was unmoved by a unanimous outpouring of support for Police Chief Dan Watson on January 6 and voted to proceed with not renewing his contract. They knew he would retire, and he has. There is no transparency here. For unknown reasons, the Council wanted Watson out, but they won't say why. They chose to do this right after the November election and during the holiday season, so it would not attract much attention. This is old-style back-room politics at its finest. Shame on them.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't they be forced to give their reasons, or non-reasons. I don't see how that group is operating as any sort of a democratic body. Where is the accountability?

Mister Earl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mister Earl said...

There is some statute that requires that personnel matters be conducted in private. Technically, this was not a review of the Chief, but of the City Manager, who is the only one who can fire or hire a Chief. But the City Council can fire the City Manager.

The Council used the privacy statute to hide behind. I'm going to get a copy of it. I guarantee that the statute was not intended to hide the motives of a governing body, but they may have done it in such a way that it can't be directly questioned. Certainly, at public forums going forward, the CC members will be asked about this and they will probably say, "We can't discuss it.' But the questions may hound them.

Dinah Brooks said...

South Pas Friends, I have been watching all of this with great interest. What a sad mess! When agendas are hidden and officials fail to be forthcoming, my experience has been that the ulterior motive ultimately comes down to money and personal gain. It is in saying NOTHING, that politicians SAY IT ALL.

So, I submit for your approval, a little ditty that keeps going through my head... Not making light of your plight AT ALL; I simply think it is time your City Council had it's own theme song... The South Pas Shuffle? You are great advocates! Stand your ground!

Go to this youtube site and watch from :53 through 2:53.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mNDHTfdn1A