PORT HUENEME : Early Retirement of Police Chief OKd

Citing the need to prepare for state budget cuts, the Port Hueneme City Council agreed Wednesday to the early retirement of Police Chief Robert Anderson as part of a Police Department reorganization plan.

The board unanimously approved the plan, which calls for 58-year-old Anderson to step down in June, 1993. Anderson was previously scheduled to retire in June, 1994.

Anderson will be replaced by Lt. John Hopkins, his second-in-command, who will serve as chief until he retires in 1995. The lieutenant’s position will not be filled, resulting in a savings of $122,000 over two years, said City Manager Dick Velthoen.

Looming cuts in state funding prompted the call for reorganization, Velthoen said. The city already is facing a $500,000 deficit because of decreasing sales tax revenues, he said. Most of the deficit is being made up by reserves, but the city is not prepared to handle additional cuts threatened by state legislators in Sacramento.

“We have to find ways to cut costs,” Velthoen said. “This is one way to do that.”

If the state does not cut the city’s funding when Gov. Pete Wilson signs a budget bill, then the reorganization plan may be scrapped, officials said.

Anderson has been chief of the 21-officer department for 15 years. His departure will not reduce the number of patrols on city streets, Velthoen said.

But the loss of an administrative position will mean that Hopkins will not have time to attend to the community functions traditionally performed by the police chief, such as appearing at citizens meetings and schools, Velthoen said.

Anderson joined the Port Hueneme Police Department in 1970. Before that, he was a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Hopkins was hired by Port Hueneme in 1968 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1978.