A song of farewell to Police Chief Spreine

City employees and admirers said bon voyage in their own fashion to retiring Police Chief James Spreine at an Oct. 20 going-away party hosted by the city at the Veteran’s Memorial Building.

Local veterans, in uniform, saluted Spreine’s years of military service and service to the city, City Manager Ken Frank presented gifts, and cast members of “Lagunatics” serenaded him.

It was a bittersweet event.

Even consummate professional Bree Burgess Rosen choked up as she began to sing her own version of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” from “My Fair Lady.”

“Darn! Darn! Darn! Darn,” she sang and then stopped.

“I can’t sing this,” she muttered.

In the 2005 “Lagunatics,” the chief had made a Burgess Rosen parody of the Lerner and Lowe classic, renamed “I’ve Grown Accustomed to this Place (Laguna),” his tear-jerking farewell to the city.

“He never changed the way he sang it from the first time at a rehearsal until he performed it closing night, because it was perfect,” Burgess Rosen said. “I’ve never had a performer do that before.”

Of course, the Goodbye Show had to go on, and Burgess Rosen did:

We’ve grown accustomed to his face

Our No. 1 pig who’s pure ham

To be accosted in this town

By a chief that’s never down

Who’ll sing and dance, but not in a gown

It’s second nature to him now

Like drive-alongs and fighting crime

Soon he’ll be starring in the boondocks

And we hope he’ll have some fun

But who will sing the ‘Montage Cash’

When he’s in Washing -- ton?

We’ve grown accustomed to his style

Accustomed to his grace

Accustomed to his face

Spreine then joined a sampling of “Lagunatics” cast members that included City Councilwoman Toni Iseman to conclude the vocal goodbyes with a rousing rendition of the show’s anthem, “Laguna Beach (Did I Mention Queer?).”

“I really didn’t expect to break down. I’ll be saying my real goodbyes to him tomorrow at dinner,” Burgess Rosen said.

She has developed a special relationship with the chief in the years after she drafted him to perform in “Lagunatics.”

She even got him to bare his manly chest for the show, something of a shock for City Manager Frank.

“He has promised to come back next near for the show,” Burgess Rosen said.

Jim Law, in full uniform, presented Spreine with a plaque on behalf of his fellow U.S. Marines. Spreine, who also served in the Marine Corps, was a long-standing member of the city’s American Legion post.

“It has been my pleasure to work with Jim as deputy and chief of the police,” Frank said.

“He is an absolutely great team player. The Police Department gets pretty much what it wants at budget time, but Jim has always had respect for other departments. And he’s been great in the community.”

Spreine conceived the department’s senior volunteer program and has aggressively dealt with drunk drivers and businesses that sell alcohol to underage customers, Frank said.

Another point in his favor: “He never differentiated between men and women officers,” Police Sgt. Jenny Jones said.

Frank also applauded the pedestrian safety program, in which disguised officers -- would you believe a six-foot bunny? -- issued 40 citations to careless or law-breaking walkers.

“I bug Jim a lot about things that no other chief has to deal with,” Frank said. “In Santa Ana, there are multiple murders. I worry about mailers on parked cars.

“It is a pleasure to present him with the city tile -- for which no one has ever figured out its use.”

Frank said that Spreine had the biggest office in City Hall with a great view of Forest Avenue, all to be left behind when the chief and his wife, Linda, also a retired law enforcement officer, move to the Northwest.

“So the city employees chipped in for a Viszolay painting of Forest Avenue at Glenneyre Street -- where we will be having a traffic officer in the future,” Frank said.

Spreine retuned Frank’s compliments.

“The city manager doesn’t like hearing this, but I have worked with him for the last 25 years, and I have to tell you, it has been an honor and a pleasure,” Spreine said.

Spreine also thanked the current and former City Councils. Three-term Councilman Neil Fitzpatrick was there to pay his respects.

“Sometimes councils and police departments are not always on the same page, but I always found the council put safety as its number one priority, and it always gave us the tools to get the job done,” Spreine said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the citizens of Laguna Beach are the finest in the world. I never knew how special people in a community could be till I got here.”

He was shocked on his first day on duty when some greeted him with a cheery, “Good morning Lt. Spreine,” as he walked down the street.

“I fell in love with the community,” he said.

“Thank God, my wife was also a police officer and knows what makes me tick,” Spreine said.

Michael Sellers, who takes over the top job in the department after eight years as chief in Seal Beach, did not attend Spreine’s party.

“He’s at his own party in Seal Beach,” Spreine said.

“We officers are really party animals. When the city manager told me to get out into the community, he didn’t think I was going to take off my clothes.”

For a couple days, the city had two police chiefs. Spreine swore in Sellers on Oct. 19.

“The city manager and the City Council have chosen a man I admire to succeed me,” Spreine said.

Among the well-wishers at the party: City Clerk Martha Anderson, Police Captain Paul Workman, Sandi and Hal Werthe, Pauline Walpin, Ann Quilter, Chris Quilter, Deputy City Clerk Mindy La Tendresse and her husband, Fire Department Division Chief Jeff La Tendresse, and Jean Law, dressed to the nines because for once she didn’t have to clean up the kitchen.

Also attending: former City Clerk Verna Rollinger, Dave and Diane Connell, City Community Development Director John Montgomery, Assistant City Manager John Pietig, Dave Schaar, City Project Manager Wade Brown, Steve Miller, City Council secretary and Frank’s right hand Carol Bright, Katy Moss, and newly promoted Fire Capt. Pat Brennan.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 22 in the Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.

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