03-29-09, “How Long was Bruce Philpott the Police Chief in Pasadena?”

Michael Teahan asked, “How Long was Bruce Philpott the Police Chief in Pasadena?”

Here is Bruce Philpott’s answer:

Michael, I anticipated this question but assumed it would have come from a firefighter or a proxy of another candidate. . . maybe it did. I served in that position for two years. I was interim chief for the first year and was then appointed permanent chief by Phil Hawkey, the Pasadena City Manager at the time.  He is now the Executive Vice President of the College of Business and Public Management and Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of LaVerne.  I anticipated that this issue would come up because I heard an on-duty Glendale firefighter tell a colleague that I was "forced out of Pasadena", so I ask Mr. Hawkey if he would send me a letter that addressed my separation from the Pasadena Police Department. He did and I am in possession of it. If you would like to read the letter, let me know. I will be happy to share it with you and anyone else who would like to question why I retired when I did and under what circumstances.

On a side note, Mr. Weaver made mention of this same issue while he was speaking from the dais several weeks ago, one week after he lambasted a colleague for engaging in political rhetoric on the dais. He inferred that I took the top job and then left with a huge spike in my pension. He probably assumed I retired at 90% like Glendale. Since you have raised the question, I will let you know that I retired with 41% of my salary. Had I stayed another two years, I would have retired at 70% of my salary.  Because my pension system is within the city, I have saved the taxpayers of Pasadena a lot of money over the past eighteen years.

Bruce Philpott