Oceanside Police Chief Quits in Election Wake : Politics: Move comes after two allies of councilwoman who opposed him were voted into office. He becomes the third top official to resign recently.

Embattled Oceanside Police Chief Oliver (Lee) Drummond, whose political fortunes dimmed with the recent City Council election, abruptly resigned Tuesday.

Drummond stepped down after 22 months commanding the 286-member force and joins an exodus of top city officials, including City Manager Ron Bradley and redevelopment director Kathy Graham, who both quit last summer.

Officials speculated that Drummond, a 43-year-old strict administrator, was disheartened by the Nov. 6 election, when two allies of Councilwoman Melba Bishop, who wanted the chief ousted, were chosen by voters.

The election of Nancy York and Don Rodee gave Bishop’s faction three votes on the five-member council, potentially ending Drummond’s majority support.

“My perception is that a certain council member did threaten long ago to get rid of Lee,” Mayor Larry Bagley, reached on vacation in Utah, said Tuesday.

“When you’re a police chief, a city manager or a city attorney, you have to learn to count up to three,” added Bagley, who praised Drummond for doing “a terrific job. Our crime rate has gone down, he was building department morale. Now it’s been shattered again.”

Bishop, a strong-willed politician, became furious with Drummond last February when his advice to officers to remember to vote in the November council elections was perceived as retaliation for her vote against buying two police helicopters.

“I can’t say that I never had any problem with the chief because that’s a matter of public record,” Bishop said Tuesday. “The man’s gone. I wish him the best of luck. I hope he finds a job soon.”

Bishop wasn’t the chief’s only woe. In August, five officers filed an $11.8-million lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that Drummond had engaged in a systematic pattern of disciplinary action and intimidation against members of the Oceanside Police Officers Assn. who opposed his policies.

During the recent council campaign, members of the association’s board of directors signaled their preference for Rodee and York among a field of 11 council candidates.

Calls to the association office and Peter Friesen, the attorney representing the five officers in the litigation, were not returned Tuesday.

Apparently, Drummond felt he would be forced out sooner or later and chose to resign before the pressure built. Rodee and York, neither of whom has publicly expressed a desire for Drummond to leave, take office Dec. 4.

Drummond has been aware for a long time that his survival depended on keeping enough favor on the council. Asked recently how things were going, he half-joked, “Well, I still have a job.”

Acting City Manager Jim Turner said Tuesday: “He resigned on his own. I didn’t ask him to resign. The council hasn’t asked him to resign.”

He said the chief submitted his resignation, turned in his official vehicle, went on leave and departed Oceanside for two weeks. Drummond left “for personal reasons, but he did ask me not to discuss those,” Turner said.

“My understanding is he has had (job) offers, but I know of no position he has at this point,” said Turner, who refused to disclose the chief’s salary or whether severance pay will be given.

Drummond, the former police chief in Hanford, Calif., was hired in January, 1989, to replace Robert Smith, who died in office.

It is known that the pay range for police chief is between $65,600 and $91,700. Bagley said he believes Drummond was paid near top-scale.

The city issued a short press release Tuesday quoting Drummond as thanking police personnel, the council, the business community, local school officials, neighborhood watch groups and city staff members for their support.

Drummond said of police personnel, “Their efforts during my tenure here resulted in crime reduction in all the major reporting areas for the first time in 10 years, and they deserve the credit.”

A 24-year department veteran, Capt. Bruce Dunne, 47, was appointed acting chief effective immediately, and initial reaction to his selection was positive.

Bagley called Dunne “solid,” and added, “I could support Bruce for chief.” Yet the mayor noted his belief that Drummond enjoyed the support of “most of the officers” in the department.

Bishop said: “Bruce has 100% of my support. He’s a people person, probably the one person who can pull that organization together.”

In addition to divisions within the department, Dunne inherits a mandate to cut his budget by 12%, part of an across-the-board citywide reduction to erase an anticipated $5.8-million deficit for the current fiscal year.

With the departure of Drummond, the city has lost its third top official since July, when City Manager Bradley and redevelopment director Graham resigned. Bradley had served two years and Graham only six months before leaving.

In interviews at the time, council members said Bradley left because he got tired of defending Drummond and Graham against political attack. Graham reportedly moved on because of faltering council support and a top-level feud within the redevelopment agency.

Assessing the changes, Turner remarked Tuesday: “What’s going on is there’s going to be a change in the political philosophy here and the direction of the city. I don’t anticipate anyone else leaving at this point.”