Chief Klein resigns

Police Chief John Klein will step down in July after a no-confidence vote from the police management union and questions surrounding promotional practices within the department.

Spectators gasped as city officials made the announcement Tuesday night at a Newport Beach City Council meeting.

“It was the fastest way for the department to get past the issues it has been having and move on,” Klein said. “This will allow a new chief to step in and get the department back on track faster.”

The City Council and spectators in the Newport Beach council chambers gave the chief a standing ovation after City Manager Homer Bludau and council members praised him.

“You are one of the most decent, honorable men I’ve ever worked with and an inspirational leader in the department,” Mayor Ed Selich told Klein. “You have shown great equanimity in handling the situation that has been occurring in the last few months. I’m going to miss you ... you had my full confidence to stay on.”

Newport Beach Fire Chief Steve Lewis voiced outrage over the police management union’s non-support of Klein on Tuesday night.

“He was the best chief I’ve ever worked with; it really upsets me — they should be ashamed of themselves,” Lewis said.

The Police Management Assn., a union that represents department commanders from the rank of sergeant up, recently sent a letter to the city attorney, asking the city to begin a new recruitment for the police chief slot. Of the union’s 33 members, 70% requested Klein be removed.

Suspicion over how Klein was installed as chief in 2007 came under scrutiny in recent months after the city attorney acknowledged Newport Beach did not follow an ordinance that required the police chief be selected through an open recruitment process. Bludau limited the recruitment process to city employees.

“Clearly the process was not done properly. It was unfair, but it was done out in the open and there was no secrecy to it,” Klein said.

The city’s civil service board has commissioned an investigation into the police department’s promotional process. Newport recently lost a $1.2-million lawsuit to a sergeant who was not promoted after false rumors circulated the department that he was gay.

The city also could face a second lawsuit. A newly retired police lieutenant filed a $100,000 claim against the city in May, alleging the promotional process was biased and kept him from rising to the rank of captain.

Klein will stay on as chief until after the Fourth of July, leaving the department July 9, Bludau said. The city manager will pick an interim chief of police while conducting a three- to four-month search for a new department head, he said.