Fountain Valley : Police Picketing Ends When Outsiders Leave

A demonstration by about 40 members of the Fountain Valley Police Department ended abruptly Friday morning when three officers from other law enforcement agencies removed themselves from consideration for a Fountain Valley lieutenancy, officials said.

The demonstrators--in civilian attire --quietly picketed a government testing facility in Huntington Beach where candidates for the lieutenant’s post were undergoing assessment for possible promotion. The demonstrators--all members of the Fountain Valley Police Officers Assn.--were protesting the recruitment and consideration of outside officers for the Fountain Valley job, according to Chris Kielich, association vice president.

Altogether, 10 officers had been scheduled to participate in the assessment tests, seven from within the Fountain Valley Police Department and three from other agencies. One outsider called in before the tests began to exclude himself, and the other two left shortly after the assessment began, Kielich said.

Friday’s demonstration was the latest round in a continuing battle between the association--which represents all the Police Department’s sworn officers--and City Manager Judy Kelsey. In a break with past policy of promoting from within the department, Kelsey has encouraged outside candidates to try for the position.

Last month, the association filed suit in Superior Court, charging that the city had violated its contract by changing policy--and thereby working conditions--without first bargaining with the police officers. A hearing has been set for June 4.

Kelsey said her position on the issue is a “simple, philosophical” one: “Particularly for management positions, I have an obligation to select the best person for the job,” she said. “An open competitive process” will result in selection of the “best-suited person for the position.”

The association, however, contends that the 10 sergeants in the Fountain Valley police force are all qualified for the lieutenant’s job, and there is no reason to look outside the department.

“All of our sergeants are extremely qualified,” Kielich said. “We could not believe--that with this qualified pool of individuals--the city would throw it open to the outside,” he said. No other law enforcement agency in the state would seek a lieutenant from outside the department without a deficiency of qualified candidates, and “We’ve never had a larger pool of qualified candidates,” he said.

Kielich said the move to look outside the department instead of promoting from within ranks is a “unilateral decision on part of the city manager and the Personnel Department.”

Kelsey said she will withhold judgment of the testing process until the city receives recommendations from the assessors. She said, however, she is “disappointed” that the Fountain Valley officers are “insecure enough to worry about their position.

“I’d like to have a very positive process in which the best person wins,” Kelsey said.