Parks Reappointment Stirs City Hall Drama
By HOWARD FINE
Staff Reporter
Now that L.A. Mayor James Hahn has announced he will not support the reappointment of Police Chief Bernard Parks to another five-year term, the city is in for an extended period of political wrangling involving factions within and outside City Hall.
Things could heat up in as early as 30 days if the Police Commission puts the Parks matter on the fast track. Otherwise, the commission has until May 15 to decide.
“It’s very difficult to imagine the police commission appointed by Hahn going against him on such a major decision,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
Commission President Rick Caruso said his panel would make a decision based on the merits of Parks’ performance. But even if the commissioners were inclined to do that, Hahn’s announcement makes such a decision less politically feasible. Hahn has appointed or reappointed all five members of the panel.
“If they vote for him, you’re setting up a situation somewhat similar to what happened in the run-up to the 1992 unrest, where then Mayor (Tom) Bradley and then Police Chief (Daryl) Gates barely spoke to each other for months at a time,” said Raphael Sonenshein, professor of political science at California State University Fullerton. “There’s no question that the commissioners are going to have to weigh that scenario in their equation.”
If, as is regarded far more likely, the commissioners vote to reject Parks’ request to serve another five years, the battle might not be over. Although there is widespread expectation that Parks would withdraw his request at that time, there is the chance that his supporters on the L.A. City Council namely Mark Ridley-Thomas, Jan Perry and Nate Holden could call upon their colleagues to take up the matter.
Parks would likely face even longer odds on the Council than at the Commission. First off, under the police reforms enacted into the charter after the Christopher Commission report, it takes the votes of 10 council members for the council to take up the matter.
Thin support
At this stage, rounding up those 10 votes looks challenging. Already, two councilmembers, Nick Pacheco and former Police Protective League official Dennis Zine, have announced their opposition to Parks. Another councilmember, Janice Hahn (sister to Mayor Hahn), has been critical of Parks without formally opposing him. And both of the candidates vying for the remaining open seat on the council, Tony Cardenas and Wendy Greuel, have said publicly they do not support Parks’ reappointment.
Nonetheless, there is a chance that some councilmembers may vote to open up debate on the matter, even if they are inclined to vote against the chief.
After the debate, of course, would come a vote. This is where things get a bit complicated. As of late last week, there was some disagreement over how many votes would be needed to override the Police Commission: 8 (a simple majority) or 10 (a two-thirds majority). The charter itself does not give a clear number. The consensus among those involved in the charter reform process is 10.
“While we were crafting the charter, the intent across the board was that the council needs a two-thirds vote to overturn a decision by the mayor or one of the commissions,” said George Kieffer, an attorney at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP. Kieffer, who now advises Hahn on economic issues, was the executive director of the Appointed Charter Reform Commission and had a key role in crafting the language of the new city charter approved by voters in 1999.
However, in another twist, the final interpretation is up to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who last week came out publicly in support of Parks.
“If it’s 10 votes, it’s just about impossible for Parks supporters to round up that many votes,” said one council staff member. “If it’s eight votes, it will still be very difficult, but at least there Parks would have a fighting chance.”
If Parks were to lose at the council, he would be forced to leave his post in August. In the meantime, attention would turn to naming a replacement.
Making a list
Under voter-approved police reforms, the Police Commission, along with the city’s Personnel Department, has the responsibility to conduct a search. They must produce a list of three recommended candidates in rank order and a separate list of three other candidates.
The big question then becomes whether to pick someone from within the LAPD ranks or seek an outsider.
“Look, we’ve hired from the outside with Willie Williams, and that had some problems, and we’ve hired from the inside with Bernie Parks and that, too, has had its share of problems,” Guerra said. “Given this track record, you can make arguments for and against both. A lot is going to depend on the direction that Hahn wants to take the LAPD.”
Guerra said the Police Commission would almost certainly give significant weight to Hahn’s expressed criteria for a new chief.
While the focus has not yet turned to a replacement, several names have surfaced.
On the inside, several of the 10 deputy chiefs could be considered candidates, most notably, Deputy Chief David Gascon, who is Parks’ chief of staff.
On the outside, Guerra said that any big-city police chief would regard L.A. as a plum, even with the department’s current problems. Potential candidates include: Sacramento Police Chief Arturo Venegas, who made the short list of candidates for LAPD chief back in 1997; and Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker, a former LAPD deputy chief who left the department to take a role with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters has also been mentioned.
Once the list is compiled, it goes to the mayor, who must choose one of the recommended candidates as his nominee. The Council then weighs in. It can approve the nominee on a majority vote or reject the nominee on a two-thirds vote.
