The stocky Mr. Davies, who comes equipped with a charcoal-colored brushcut and a ready smile, is thrilled to be in the final round. He told thefrontpageonline.com yesterday afternoon that he is confident in his abilities and has “a pretty good idea” of the kind of person the City Council is seeking.

      Otherwise, the understandably cautious Mr. Davies is keeping his thoughts to himnself.

      Even though — or perhaps especially because — Mr. Davies did not make it this far the last time, it will make for fascinating drama when he sits down to interview with the City Council.   

      As a veteran with the Police Dept., in a small town, the Council members know Mr. Davies pretty well, and he certainly knows them.

       Can there be anything left that they have to discern about each other?

      The biographical facts are straight forward. The congenial Mr. Davies graduated from Ft. Lauderdale High School in Florida in the red, white and blue year of 1976. Four years later, with his degree in sociology from Wake Forest University firmly clutched in his right hand, he took an expedition to Southern California. Culver City has been his professional home ever since.

 

      When the City Council pared the semifinal list from fourteen to five on Monday night, Capt. Scott Bixby, Lt. Dean Williams and an unnamed department veteran were eliminated.

      On Tuesday, March 28, at 5 p.m., the City Council will reconvene to interview the five candidates and reach a decision that has been a little more than five months in the making.

      Last Oct. 20, Police Chief John Montanio, operating in the most secretive environment since Santa Clause’s identity was revealed, abruptly announced his decision.

      Although no one around City Hall expected the thirty-year veteran to remain until he needed a walker to cover ground, this was considerably earlier than expected.

      He took retirement at the age of fifty-three to accept a fulltime position related to Homeland Security, in an exotic foreign posting.