Inspiration

Look up.

I think the one thing we can agree on about this election season is that we are all exhausted by it.  So,  regardless of your political views, let's stand on common ground together, look up, and reach for our better angels.  

Want to leave a message? Head over to the Glimpses of South Pasadena Community Forum to start a conversation! 

Cupcakes and Common Ground

Sometimes, you just have to drop everything and make a batch of cupcakes.

Yesterday was grim as far as national news. It was one of those days that makes you want to grab your loved ones into a bear hug and not let go for at least twelve hours. It was a day that makes you question and yell, cry and wonder, and turn off the TV because you can only take so much sad, twisted reality before you need to escape into something else. In my case, I escaped into chocolate cake, pink frosting and sprinkles.

Recently, Pasadena Star News editor Frank Giradot gave me a lovely holiday shout-out. He included me in a group of political bloggers he thought were making a difference in our region -- and he included me precisely because Glimpses of South Pasadena is not a political blog. I don't think I've ever been more flattered because in our age of name-calling, finger-pointing, fear-mongering and tut-tutting there is a hell of a lot of political nonsense getting in the way of any real understanding.

I remember when those across the aisle were people you wanted to challenge, engage and convince -- not destroy. I wonder what is going to happen if we keep ratcheting up the gears of hate and hyperbole. There will certainly be more malfunctioning cogs -- like the lunatic who shot all those people in a grocery store in Arizona yesterday. Who knows, with enough rhetoric and vitriol, we might shut down this complex machine of ours altogether.

Instead of retreating into our corners, turning on whichever cable news station parrots our beliefs and logging onto Facebook or Twitter to spew self-righteous clichés in all caps, I believe we need to figure out how the two sides of our country can manage to live together in peace without tearing each other to shreds. I don't have any answers, but maybe a conversation over a cupcake is a good start.

Below the Surface...

...of our quiet little town.

Newsworthy

Since moving to South Pasadena two years ago I've marveled at how much living here is like being in a Frank Capra movie. The small-town friendliness, the community spirit, the sense of fairness and consideration permeating everything from the business we conduct to the celebrations we share -- it all adds up to something right out of It's a Wonderful Life.

Including, unfortunately, some self-serving machinations for power worthy of George Bailey's foe, Mr. Potter.

For those readers who haven't caught up on the ongoing saga regarding the bizarre treatment of our beloved police chief Dan Watson by the South Pasadena City Council, take a look at my post here, and the follow up posts here and here. Make sure to follow the links to other media within each post.

You might want to scroll down my blog's comments section here to read the thoughtful and eloquent reply from Chief Watson himself.

After a groundswell of community support, standing-room-only council meetings with passionate speeches in favor of Chief Watson by South Pasadena residents, thoughtful letters to the editor and full page ads in the local paper expressing support from hundreds of citizens, the matter was supposedly placed in the hands of the City Manager.

And we all thought we'd have the happy ending. You know, the one right out of a Capra film where the hero keeps his job and the town celebrates with a big party.

But the City Manager didn't place another employment agreement on the Chief's desk. And then, several weeks ago, The Pasadena Star News reported that Dan Watson would not accept an offer to rescind his retirement and keep his job even if he was (eventually) asked. Most of us have a good idea why he made this decision: because he is a class act who values harmony in his department and peace in his community more than a fight with a city government that seems determined to "make a change" despite a huge public outcry. I was sad and angry when I learned the news, but I wasn't surprised. The chief -- and his countless supporters -- were up against a political wall that wasn't budging.

Apparently, Chief Watson's decision wasn't good enough. At last week's council meeting, several council members stated that they would yield their council comment time to councilman Mike Ten. What happened next was nothing less than shocking. I'll let Larry Wilson of Pasadena Star News sum it up:

...in the midst of a huge national - and South Pasadena - downturn in serious crime, Councilman Mike Ten recently took "council comment time" from his fellow Gang of Four members at a public meeting to project a 10-minute Fox News feature on how the criminals are taking over and how tough it is to be a cop today - duh. He tried to frighten citizens for no reason at all - or, rather, because he has to justify somehow the purge. Chief Dan Watson then had to get up to tell little old ladies - and men - who had been scared witless that South Pas is actually a very safe place to live.

Sweet South Pas, being run by a machine - who would have thunk it?

Read the rest of Wilson's column here.

The 10-minute video shown included graphic images of violence against police officers. To quote from one of many email messages I've received on this subject, "For me, there was panic. Here's what I saw: Political machines winning in a small town. Unfairness. Denial. Betrayal."

There is a persistent rumor about why this is happening. Fellow South Pas blogger The Ostrich Feeder covers it here. I have no way of knowing the truth of the backstory. What I do know is that a good man, a great public servant and a fine employee of our city has been thrown under the bus. And it's wrong.

Remember It's a Wonderful Life? Where Potter is defeated and George Bailey makes his town a better place for the community?

Unfortunately, in South Pasadena's Frank Capra story, Potter wins.

Behind Closed Doors

It's hard to tell what's going on in this photograph of the South Pasadena City Council chambers ... but citizens can certainly participate in the operation of our city government when the council meets in open session.

I'm glad I raised my voice at the last meeting. I stood alongside former mayors, activists and other members of our community. We each expressed enthusiastic support of our police chief Dan Watson. We questioned why the council inexplicably began recruitment for another chief when the one we have now has done such an excellent job for the past 8 years.

We didn't get any answers.

Tonight's City Council meeting is at 7:30PM, 1424 Mission Street. I encourage all concerned South Pas citizens to attend. If you wish to be included in the public comments, be sure to fill out a yellow card and hand it in to the city clerk before 8:30PM.

You can read more about the situation with Chief Watson in my earlier posts here. You can also read what journalists at the Pasadena Star News had to say here, here and here.

Bad News

This is the front page of today's South Pasadena Review. It leads with a story about South Pasadena police chief Dan Watson's decision to retire. Does this announcement surprise anyone after the shameful treatment he received from the South Pasadena City Council? (You can read my first post about this issue here.) The story goes on to cover the many, many South Pasadena notables who have spoken out in favor of the chief -- at council meetings and elsewhere. The paper includes a full page ad listing dozens and dozens of names of South Pas residents who support the chief and want him to stay. There's a second smaller ad and a page full of letters to the editor -- all echoing the same sentiment: We Want Dan Watson as Our Police Chief.

Is the council listening? Doubtful. At last week's meeting, the chorus of adamant citizens who spoke -- including former mayors, activists, esteemed members of the community and even yours truly -- didn't sway the council. A reliable source told the South Pasadena Review that "four members in closed session sided with the decision to recruit a new chief, while Mayor Richard Schneider was the only one pushing to keep Watson on board."

South Pas resident Ron Rosen wrote in his letter to the editor, "Do we want a City Council that acts in the best interests of the city? Or a council that acts based on the personal agendas of its individual members?"

I think former mayor Odom Stamps summed it up well when he wrote an open message to the council in my blog comments a few days ago. The message was also printed in today's South Pasadena Review:

For the past eight years the City of South Pasadena has experienced an unusually high percentage of turnover of almost every department head, often multiple times, including the City Manager. Consequently there is a dearth of institutional memory and the results are a loss of public employee morale, a lessening of the quality of services to the community, as well as numerous real and some costly problems due to lack of follow through on a range of issues, and confused (and broken) policy decisions.

For eight years one shining example to the contrary has been the excellent service and leadership of Police Chief Dan Watson. He stepped in to head up an organization that had endured several scandals and has overseen a complete reversal of that perception and reality - It is now a police force esteemed by our community. And the community let’s you elected officials know this at every appropriate opportunity, whether it has been the decision to keep the police as a part of our government rather than to contract the service out to the county sheriff, or the standing ovation Dan Watson received when city officials that attended were announced at the TOR Crunch Party last week.

Beyond establishing an exemplary work record, Dan and Kathy Watson also have given largely of their time and money in active community service work, including Rotary Club (past President), SPTOR, ACS Relay For Life, to name three. They are both fixtures at our community events. This man deserves the South Pasadena Review’s “Citizen of the Year Award”, for many jobs well done - not the humbling requirement of having to reapply for his job, as one among many.

Most of us can’t take the time to come and speak out at City Council meetings, and when we do, it’s usually to complain about something believed to be going wrong – not to attest to what’s going right. It was therefore an inspiration to those in the community who do follow government actions when our City Clerk, Sally Kilby and our City Treasurer, Vic Robinette got up to support Chief Watson. The following meeting eight more community activists, including former Mayor Harry Knapp and myself took the opportunity to do so. I expect that this will lead to a ground swell of support at the next meeting, until such time as this issue is resolved, and the Chief is accorded the respectful treatment that he is due.

This has been made necessary because of the public airing of the issues involving the Chief’s employment in the past two issues of our Newspaper of Record. After the shameful treatment that very recently played out in the pages of that same newspaper, leading to the dismissal of our City Manager – people who know and respect Chief Watson are understandably upset.

We expect that the City Manager would deal fairly and privately with his employees on any personnel matter, and he has a duty to investigate any allegation or complaint as well as the record of achievement in making up his mind. To my knowledge, City Manager John Davidson is doing just that. But because this process has been brought to public attention, and that the review of the Chief’s record extends past the expiration of his employment agreement, and that others are encouraged to apply, makes what should have been a private employment negotiation, an embarrassment.

Therefore I urge the City Manager to conclude his review with all deliberate speed, and if everything is found to the good, to quickly conclude negotiations with the Chief. Separately I urge the Council to get ahead of the rumor and innuendo mill with a resolution of support for Chief Watson and the great job you know him to be doing. Such a resolution would go a long way to reassure the town that our local government is professionally run, that it’s leadership respects long serving, capable managers, and also to buoy the morale of the City’s employees with the knowledge that a job well done is a secure job.

I think the council should instruct the city manager to beg Chief Watson to rescind his retirement and stay on.

Concerned citizens are printing another ad in next week's paper. If you would like to include your name as a supporter of Chief Dan Watson and/or contribute to ad costs please email southpaschief@live.com

Update at 9:00AM: Take a look at what Larry Wilson has to say in The Pasadena Star News.

Update at 3:00PM: Here's an article on the subject by Alfred Lee, also in The Pasadena Star News today. Interesting note: Council members David Sifuentes, Mike Ten, Michael Cacciotti and Mayor Richard Schneider did not return Lee's calls for comment Tuesday. Councilman Philip Putnam could not be reached.

Update on January 17, 2010: Read Pasadena Star News' writer Larry Wilson's newest column touching on a legal aspect of the council's actions.

Settings: Part 20

I'll admit this one is a little unusual for my favorite game, but indulge me a bit and play along. Tell me, dear readers ... if this happened to be the location for a scene in a movie, what would happen here?

Keep The Police Chief

I went back into my files for this image of South Pasadena police chief Dan Watson driving a vintage squad car in the last 4th of July parade. It's a great example of our chief's personal involvement in our city. (I've even heard a rumor that he manned the beer tap at one of the arts festivals -- too bad I don't have a picture of that!) This gentleman doesn't just work for South Pasadena, he genuinely cares about South Pasadena. I had barely started the blog when I received a warm, welcoming email from Chief Watson. I was impressed. Here was a police chief who kept up with his city and reached out to the community in ways that went far beyond his official duties of law enforcement. When I mentioned the message to neighbors, nobody seemed surprised. In fact, everyone seemed to have a great personal story about Dan Watson. Gosh, I thought. Maybe I really did move to Mayberry.

For 8 years Chief Watson has led our police department with great success. We have a low crime rate for the Los Angeles area, and response time for any call to service is 3 minutes or less. There is a remarkably close-knit relationship between the community and the police department -- in fact, my husband and daughter joined Chief Watson for a meal at the annual 4th of July pancake breakfast.

You'll all understand why I was absolutely baffled when I learned that on November 5, the chief was informed by South Pasadena City Manager John Davidson that his employment contract would not be renewed. The South Pasadena Review reported last week that Davidson was the apparent messenger for the City Council who is looking for "a leadership change." The city will look for "a more qualified" candidate starting after the first of the year. (More qualified than a 3 decade LAPD veteran who has served South Pasadena well for 8 years?) According to news reports, the chief was reassured that there are "no concerns about his performance or the performance of any members of the department," and that he could certainly compete for his own job.

Are you mad yet? I know I am.

Is this how we thank one of South Pasadena's finest for years of dedication? Is this what passes for acceptable local hiring practice -- recruiting excellent people to serve our city and then, instead of rewarding their dedication and management skill, simply dumping them on a political whim? I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of local government but I know when I smell a rat. And something is stinking up the place.

At last week's City Council meeting, members of our community raised their voices in support of our chief. City Clerk Sally Kilby said, "You already have one quality police chief who goes above and beyond the call of duty." Chamber of Commerce president Scott Feldmann agreed, adding, "I'm a fan of the police chief, I think he's very community-oriented. I think he's fantastic, and so I hope the city can somehow reverse this decision." Local resident Carrie Adrian said, "Dan Watson is the best thing we have and we need to keep him." Here here.

The next City Council meeting is on January 6 at 7:30PM. I urge my South Pasadena readers to attend.

I also suggest calling City Hall to express your support of Dan Watson: (626)403-7232

You can also email the City Clerk: skilby@ci.south-pasadena.ca.us

Looking at the above photo again got me thinking ... we should be throwing a parade for Dan Watson to thank him for his excellent record, not inexplicably asking him to leave his job. It's not right. And it's certainly not right for South Pasadena.



Note: GOSP reader and commenter Mister Earl also blogged about this last week. You can read his post here.