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.