The unprecedentedly early swearing-in of Don Pedersen as the new Chief of Police on Monday night was a marvelous directorial stroke right out of Masterpiece Theatre, Vera-style.
Nearly everyone was caught off-guard.
The new chief is not scheduled to take office for twenty more days, on Monday, May 8. So what was the rush?
In the City Council rotation process, Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger is scheduled to be voted into the Mayor’s chair by his colleagues next Monday. It was widely expected that swearing in the chief would be one of his first duties two weeks later.
Mayor’s Time Was Fleeting
For Mr. Vera, however, there was no time to tarry.
The mayor’s retirement officially begins in the opening minutes of next Monday’s City Council meeting.
(Scott Malsin, who was elected last week, will ascend to the dais and take Mr. Vera’s place.)
Thus, this week’s meeting was the only chance for Mr. Vera to squeeze in the ceremony.
Like the unfortunate pheasant, this information was kept under glass, under smoked glass, so that hardly anyone would find out.
Normally, the swearing-in of a new Chief of Police is a widely trumpeted affair. Friends and important people from the community come in to cheer.
This, by contrast, was hurried and staged as the mayor was going out the door.
If Mr. Pedersen could be sworn in as the new Chief of Police, that would yield Mr. Vera one farewell visit to his beloved spotlight where he has frolicked and basked.
Discreetly, the word went out.
It was a tightly zipped secret to all — except for those few who absolutely had a Need to Know.
As an item on the agenda, the copy that both the City Council and the public received simply said, “Presentation of Mr. Donald Pedersen, Chief of Police.”
The laconic line did not seem intended to illuminate or inform.
What’s a presentation?
Does presentation sound like a swearing-in?
Worn down as Mr. Vera must have been from a daily routine that would flatten a young muscleman, he had enough energy — and authority — still left on Monday afternoon to send important people scrambling.
Somebody Had to Do It
Since no one at City Hall was lining up to strew rose petals in his path on Closing Day, he would shape a different kind of going-away ceremony that would thrust him into the center ring once more.
Not long after 2 o’clock, the full-bore scramble was on. At the Police Station, they scurried to round up the accoutrements the new Chief of Police would need for the ceremony less than five hours away.
Mr. Pedersen himself was getting ready for the State Police Chiefs Assn. convention in Palm Springs, but he would appear in Council Chambers with his wife, his two young daughters and his sister.
Interim Police Chief Bill Burck, who said Monday that he still has five weeks left before his own retirement,collected the department’s command staff.
They were directed to make a cameo appearance at the meeting so that an official cheering gallery would be in place when Mr. Pedersen was sworn in.
By late afternoon, word began to filter out about the swearing-in. Not everyone got the message.
Perhaps Vice Mayor Silbiger was the most surprised person in Council Chambers when Mr. Vera announced his intention to stand down from the dais and swear in the new chief more than three weeks early.
“I thought it was just going to be a presentation, as it said on the agenda,” Mr. Silbiger told thefrontpageonline.com.
He shrugged off his feelings. “That is just the way it is,” he said.
Councilman Alan Corlin felt far more strongly about the unannounced event.
“I had no idea, no clue what was going to happen,” he said. “I was really upset. But there is nothing I can do about it now.”
As of Monday night, Culver City probably is one of the few communities on earth with two Police Chiefs, or twice as many chiefs as it has mayors, and two more chiefs than it has Sanitation Managers.
Postscript
Less than ten minutes before the opening of the meeting, the mayor was the most relaxed man in the house.
He was very clear that on Getaway Night, he did not have any surprises planned.
“I just hope I get through the meeting,” he said.
Mr. Vera was a portrait of serenity going into his last full meeting.
No trace of melancholy. No regret. Just reflection.
“I feel great,” he said. “Of all of the years I have been privileged to serve the city, a lot of good has been done.
“There is an old saying: Leave a place better than you find it.
“Me, I am leaving Culver City — temporarily — better than I found it.
“I’ll tell you what I am proudest of. As I said in my speech at the Mayor’s Luncheon a couple of weeks ago, We were able to water the seeds that others planted. We have planted more seeds, and I have seen the fruit of those seeds.
“Take Downtown. I am very proud of Culver Boulevard. When you drive down the street, it used to be a weed patch. Now it’s a beautiful boulevard.”
Beginning with the first Monday night in May, Mr. Vera, who rarely has missed a meeting in twelve years on the dais, will return to an old pre-Council routine.
He will drive north to his ranch holdings in the Central Valley. Sleeping there, he will awaken around 5 a.m. refreshed, eager for a day of bristling physical activity.
For the past four years, the rancher has been unable to leave Culver City on Tuesdays until a little past dawn after a night of shrunken sleep, delaying his ranch work until mid-morning.
Unfailingly, Mr. Vera reminds visitors he is not finished with politics.
He wanted to be clear that his sallies out of town will be brief and temporary.
“With all of the friends I have made, I am going to stay active here,” he promised.