By Doug Miller
Laffey, 58, was approved by the City Council by a 3-2 vote along party lines, with Republicans James Hennessy and Tom Sofield Jr. voting no.
His hiring was the first official action of the new City Council, which includes a Democratic majority after two years of Republican rule. Leonard Remo began his second four-year term by being elected council president. Denise Tangney also began a four-year term, and Robert Tepper, who was elected council vice president, began a two-year term.
Laffey is no stranger to City Hall. He was appointed police commissioner in Long Beach in December 2001 but resigned in March 2004 under pressure from the Republican coalition that had taken power. He was succeeded on an "acting" basis by Tom Sofield Sr., a police lieutenant and detective and the father of Councilman Sofield, whose service in that role continues.
Those who predicted that Laffey's appointment hearing would be tumultuous were not disappointed. The drama began on Sunday, when the new council members were sworn in at what, anywhere else, would be a gracious, dignified inauguration. But not in Long Beach.
The council, after the swearing-in, went about the process of choosing its officers. Democrat Remo was expected to become president, and Tepper was the Democrats' choice for vice president. But before a vote could be cast for Tepper, Sofield asked him where he stood on the vacant city manager's job. When Tepper demurred, Sofield said he couldn't vote for someone without a position on that issue.
His statement was greeted by groans, boos and shouted profanities from the crowd, some of whom walked out. "It was very rude," said Hennessy.
So in response, when Remo was elected president, he called for Tuesday's emergency council meeting, which would have one item on the agenda.
During that meeting, which began at 6 p.m. and dragged on almost to the 8 p.m. start of the regular council meeting, Sofield and Hennessy mercilessly grilled Remo on how he had arrived at the decision to nominate Laffey in the first place. Remo acknowledged that a thorough search and interview process had not been conducted, but that the circumstances of Theofan's unexpected resignation made immediate action necessary.
"Who else beside yourself was present during your conversations with Mr. Laffey?" Sofield asked.
"Nobody," Remo said.
"Was anybody else interviewed?" Sofield asked.
"No," came the reply.
"Was Laffey even interviewed?"
"No, he was hired based on my knowledge of his philosophy of government."
"This is the antithesis of open and honest government," Sofield said. "You're ramming this down our throats. [Hennessy and I] were elected, whether you like it or not, plus we have two new members of the council who would have benefited from an interview process."
"Then I was following the example of the previous two years of the City Council," Remo responded. He was rewarded with a round of applause from the crowd, which appeared to be there mostly to support Laffey.
"I lived through two years of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do," Remo said Wednesday. "And now the City of Long Beach can move away from that."
Hennessy joined Sofield in summing up his dissent. "The problem is, neither Tom nor I knew a thing about this," Hennessy said. "Even prior Democratic administrations had a process to search for a city manager. When we came in, we had a process. All five members were involved in hiring Glen Spiritis [in 2003]. All five were involved in developing a process to replace Glen [in 2004]. We all collected resumes. We all interviewed the top seven applicants.
"My gripe is there was no process," he said.
After the vote, Sofield and Hennessy beelined to Laffey's seat in the audience, shook his hand, and assured him their no votes were protests against the process and not him personally. Laffey graciously shook their hands and said he looked forward to working with them.
Remo stressed that Laffey, unlike Theofan and Spiritis, would not be receiving a contract, just as he hadn't when he was police commissioner. And he shared his view on the Laffey philosophy of government. "He's got a very steady management style," said Remo. "He's an executive officer, he's a manager, he's an administrator. He's not there to micro-manage and do the job of the department heads. He's a facilitator. He makes it possible for the people with the expertise to do their jobs to the best of their abilities."
In an interview with the Herald, Laffey pointed to that fact as a sign of his dedication. "This is my acknowledgment that I serve at the pleasure of the council," Laffey said. "I can only be effective if I have their support."
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