San Clemente : Former Police Chief Seeks Reinstatement

Former Police Chief Kelson McDaniel, who resigned last month because of criticism of his rigid management style, has asked the city for a month’s back pay and immediate reinstatement, his attorney said Thursday.

McDaniel could not be reached for comment on Thursday afternoon, but Laguna Niguel attorney Fred T. Ashley said McDaniel on Wednesday had made that request in a letter to City Manager James Hendrickson.

If the city rejects McDaniel’s requests, the former chief is asking back pay of $5,167, a written statement of the reasons for his dismissal and a public hearing on his reinstatement before an arbitrator, Ashley said.

Ashley declined to say whether the request was a prelude to a lawsuit against San Clemente, but he said that “there has been severe damage to his reputation already.”

On May 28, about two weeks after Hendrickson gave McDaniel a glowing annual review, Hendrickson asked for his resignation. In the interim, San Clemente’s 50-member police force handed their chief of 18 months a no-confidence vote. They complained that McDaniel’s style was overly punitive and that he disrupted their personal lives by requiring that they change shifts every 28 days.

McDaniel argued that he was merely instituting standards that would give the officers of San Clemente the professional style of officers in Los Angeles or Newport Beach.

Since McDaniel’s resignation, some San Clemente residents have gone door to door with petitions seeking his reinstatement. They are expected to return those petitions to the City Council in late July.

San Clemente Mayor Pro Tem Tom Lorch said the council and the city attorney will discuss McDaniel’s letter and respond soon, possibly by Monday.