Duties Expanding for Police Chief : Santa Ana’s Davis Will Also Administer Fire Department

Santa Ana Police Chief Raymond C. Davis, who had to rescind an announcment three weeks ago that he would be overseeing the Fire Department as well as the Police Department, was officially named to such a dual post Wednesday.

City Manager Robert C. Bobb released a memo to the City Council and all police and fire personnel stating that Davis, Santa Ana’s police chief since 1973, would be appointed to “the newly created position of Deputy City Manager / Police, Fire and Emergency Services,” effective immediately.

Davis will retain the subtitle of police chief, according to Bobb, but day-to-day operations of the department will be handled by Deputy Chief Eugene Hansen. Fire Department operations will be handled by acting Fire Chief Ernest Hoeft, filling in for Chief William J. Reimer, who is on a 90-day industrial leave for unspecified medical reasons. Hoeft will report directly to Davis in the future.

Large Part of Budget

Bobb said the change is warranted because the Police and Fire departments, which account for the largest part of the city’s budget--about 56%--are the only parts of the city not governed by a deputy city manager. The change will also allow the two departments to share some services, including data processing, personnel services and a staff “psychologist / organizational development specialist,” he said.

The new system would smooth operations, Bobb said, and allow better planning for several anticipated changes, including a joint police-fire training center and a management study of the Fire Department. “I believe that the time is right to complete the deputy city manager system,” he said.

“There won’t be a dramatic, overnight change,” said Davis, 53, adding that the change has been considered for some time and that he believes it is “a logical move.” He said he would set up meetings with the police and fire associations to discuss the new system in the next few days.

He said January’s announcement and subsequent retraction was a result of fears in the two departments that the city would move toward a public safety department in which officers would perform both police and fire duties, a system implemented by Bobb when he was city manager of Kalamazoo, Mich. “That’s the only reason we put things on hold,” he said. “I have stated very clearly that we are not moving toward an integrated department.”

Wednesday’s announcement met with mixed reviews from the rank and file.

‘No Objections’

Robert Brooks, president of the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn., said he feels very good about the change. “There will be no objections from the rank and file about Hansen taking over day-to-day operations,” he said.

Brooks alluded to the chief’s resilience in the face of a no-confidence vote by officers in 1983. “I congratulate him,” he said. “I really do compliment Ray. We put a couple of shiners on him with that no-confidence vote, but he stuck it out and came right back. He’s a tough guy.”

Representatives of the two firefighters’ associations, the Firemen’s Benevolent Assn. and the Fire Management Assn., declined to comment Wednesday, saying that they remain unconvinced that the announcement is final.

The associations have been embroiled in a dispute with Reimer and the city administration over alleged heavy-handed discipline that they say has resulted in plummeting morale. In a closed-door meeting with Bobb and Reimer in early January, they called for changes in administration of the Fire Department, including firing Reimer.

However, attorney Seth J. Kelsey, who represents both the police and fire associations, said the firefighters would never accept Davis’ new role, although they have no objection to the concept of a deputy city manager to handle both departments. He said city officials told him recently that contract negotiations were being delayed to wait for “the dust to settle” from the earlier announcements about Davis’ new job.

‘Starting to Choke’

“We’re now starting to choke because the dust wasn’t settling at all, it was being kicked back up in our faces,” he said. Kelsey said Davis has shown a lack of compassion in running the Police Department and has taken “vindictive retribution” against officers who publicly criticized his administration.

He said the morale of firefighters would be improved if the city recruited a new fire chief, throwing the process open to applicants from outside departments as well as within the Santa Ana department, and removing some of the “deadwood” in the administrative ranks.

But Davis, who stressed that he would take an active role in attempting to smooth out the alleged problems in the Fire Department, called for the associations to “leave the animosity behind” and move on.

Hoeft said it will “take some time” to solve the morale problems but said he remains optimistic that solutions will be reached. “I’m not concerned with the past. I can’t change the past,” he said. “I think it’s time to take a good, hard look at the issues and get on with working (the problems) out.”

Both he and Hansen said they don’t expect any major changes in their jobs. Residents won’t notice any “dramatic changes in service” right away, Hansen said.

Studies to Be Done

A request for firms to submit proposals to conduct the management study of the Fire Department is being drawn up, Hoeft said. Other studies to be undertaken by Davis and his chiefs include:

- The feasibility of a joint police-fire training facility.

- Equipment needs.

- The crime and fire prevention bureaus and coordination of the two.

- Hazardous material programs.

- “Long-term status” of the joint anti-narcotics drive by the Police Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

- Police Department space requirements.

- Settlement of fire association contract negotiations.