Councilman Questions Colleague’s Police Job : Anaheim: Lou Lopez is ‘serving two masters’ by being on both the council and the force, Frank Feldhaus says. Lopez says he doesn’t see a problem.

Lou Lopez’s dual role as police officer and councilman was questioned for the first time by one of his colleagues, Councilman Frank Feldhaus, who called for a change in the city’s charter that would make it impossible for city employees to serve on the council.

“Lou is serving two masters right now in the city, and it’s a little awkward,” Feldhaus said this week. “Does he work for [Police Chief Randall] Gaston, or does Gaston work for him? I don’t think it’s right in the sense of fairness.”

Feldhaus is the first council member to publicly comment on Lopez’s situation, which has received heightened attention recently because of a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa) that would prohibit an employee of a local agency from serving on that agency’s governing board.

The bill sailed through the Legislature last month and arrived on the desk of Gov. Pete Wilson last week. It would not affect Lopez unless he ran for reelection in 1998.

Granlund said last week that Lopez, or anyone in a similar situation, should make a choice between being a member of a governing board or being an employee of the agency.

Lopez on Wednesday said Feldhaus is overreacting.

“I was given a legal opinion before I ran for the council,” Lopez said. “I don’t have a problem with it, and there is no problem. For some reason, this has been a concern of Feldhaus, and only his.”

Lopez, 51, said he needs the $56,000-a-year police job to support his family and does not plan to retire from the force for another 15 months. When he was elected to office, Lopez said he would retire from the force as soon as he found another job. He has said his job search has so far been unsuccessful.

“If the right employment opportunity came along, I would retire,” said Lopez, a 26-year member of the force. “But I have to provide for my family. I’m not going to retire and shortchange myself at the request of an individual council member.”

Feldhaus also said that Lopez had been moved from his patrol responsibilities in the Police Department to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Police Chief Gaston confirmed that after Lopez was elected to the council in November, he was taken off street patrol and assigned to the department’s personnel division.

But Gaston said the new assignment was not due simply to Lopez’s election to the council.

“We had a need for additional help in our personnel detail because we’ve hired so many new officers in the last 15 months,” Gaston said, referring to 31 new employees. “It was a good fit and has worked well. He would have been seriously considered either way.”

Lopez admitted Wednesday that being a city councilman and remaining on street patrol would have been awkward.

“I’m not involved in what’s happening on the streets,” he said. “It’s better for me and better for the other officers. I also felt, for myself, I’d be better off in a position where I was less visible.”