Easing in the new chief
Jose Paul Corona
Rather than the usual welcome and on the job training that new
city officials receive, Surf City’s new police chief is being eased
into the position.
Retiring Police Chief Ron Lowenberg and City Administrator Ray
Silver are showing Kenneth Small the ropes around town before he
officially takes over the department.
“I think it makes for a nice smooth transition,” said Lowenberg.
“This time together is well spent.”
It will be a welcome change from when he took over as police chief
in Daytona Beach, Fla., said Small, where he met his predecessors at
the airport and was promptly handed keys to his new car and wished
luck.
By spending a week together, Lowenberg said he will be able to
introduce his replacement to community leaders and to his
counterparts in neighboring cities.
Small said he has already been studying the city from Florida via
the Internet. He was able to read reports and transcripts from staff
meetings.
“[That was] invaluable,” Small said. “I feel like I’m kind of
starting the transition.”
He is quietly observing things at the department.
“I’ve got lots of questions,” he said. “I think that’s what this
is all about.”
Small said he has to familiarize himself with a new city and a new
department, and it’s not something that can be learned quickly.
Small, who most recently served as chief of police in Daytona
Beach, Fla., was one of 50 applicants interviewed for the job. Silver
selected him for the job because of his experience in working in a
beach city, he said.
Small spent more than 20 years with the Los Angeles Police
Department and is a native of the San Fernando Valley.
He’ll be sworn in at a ceremony at the Civic Center on Tuesday.
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