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high opinion of the veteran street cop. Residents and business owners love him, and most people expected him to get the job permanently,
Swanson, por supuesto, has every right to change course.
“I respect public input but the way a commission/manager form of government works is that the manager is in charge of personnel decisions,” Swanson told Ladra late Thursday. “I get to pick and this is what I’m doing.”
The question is… why?
“The alignment I’m proposing recognizes the best traits and unique talents we have and also some of the challenges we are facing and place our resources in a way where we have tremendous coverage on patrol and we see an increase in criminal investigations,” Swanson said, adding that administrative duties — such as fleet management, accreditation, recruitment, communications, training — will be headed by an assistant chief.
Sounds like a bunch of key words and message points to cover up the fact that there will be no independent police chief reporting to the commission — just another administration lackey.
And Pedroso is a nice enough guy. 
He’s risen through the ranks and been there forever. He’s well-spoken. He’s served in many leadership positions, including most recently, as major of patrol to replace Hudak when Hudak was plucked for the top post earlier this year. Like Hudak, a lot of the residents and business owners know him. Tiene experiencia. Tiene presencia.
But he also has some kind of grudge with Hudak. The two are said not to see eye to eye on most matters. One employee said they get along “like cats and dogs.” It’s mostly about the police drama that unfolds when you change chiefs, which the Gables has done a bunch of times over the last couple decades. Pedroso is seen as one of former Chief Denis Weiner’s boys.
“They’re going to have to get over it,” Swanson told Ladra. “They absolutely need to work together. This is a critical department.”
She’s made up her mind. And commissioners are to get a memo Friday about the proposed changes — because all these things are unveiled on Fridays, aren’t they? But already, there are whispers of discontent in the police department, where Hudak enjoys enormous support.
Officers who spoke to Ladra, on the condition that names would not be published, said Hudak had earned the position. They say morale is up, crime is down but they feel that he is being punished for something.
“What’s worse is there’s not going to be a clear chain of command,” one longtime officer said. “Who’s going to be in charge? It’s a distraction. And it’s going to cause morale problems again.”
Hudak is also overwhelmingly supported on the commission dais, where he probably has five votes to make him chief if any of the commissioners decides to defy the new city manager and go that way.
Commissioner Frank Quesada wants that and has been very vocal about it.
“He’s a great communicator, which is the biggest problem we had with the old chief. He’s out in front of issues. Everybody knows him personally,” Quesada said.
He is suspect of the proposed changes, which he calls the “two and a half chief” structure.
“It’s ambiguous. What is he? A super chief? It is just a renamed title,” Quesada said.
“To date I think Cathy is doing a tremendous job. This is the first item we’re not 100% on the same page. In eight months, she’s been spectacular. But I’m really questioning this one.”
He may not have enough questions, however, to fight Swanson.
“I’m hoping we can work something out. But there’s a delicate balance,” Quesada said Thursday. “You don’t want to take power away from a good city manager and then that becomes the reason why she leaves.”
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