This is the time for Robert Luna to speak his mind about the continuing emasculation of his department that was stripped of 186 officers between 2009 and 2015 and now faces another 50 dismissals if Mayor Robert Garcia's proposed budget is approved.

This is the time for Robert Luna to passionately express his feelings publicly against Mr. Garcia's plan to hire as replacements -- they will be euphemistically referred to as "ambassadors" -- and inform him of the absolute folly of employing uniformed, unarmed individuals to respond to non-violent crimes (Eh, what happens if these non-violent crimes suddenly turn violent, which, of course, happens on occasion?).

This is the time for Robert Luna to point out that smaller cities like Santa Monica and Signal Hill and a bigger one like Los Angeles have more cops per thousand people than does Long Beach.

This is the time for Robert Luna to become a cop's cop, as one of his predecessors, Jim McDonnell, once described him to me, and come out of his cautious shell -- his pension is already secured! -- and strongly voice his opinions about the latest proposed cutbacks in his department and the dangerous ramifications it might well have for the citizenry of Long Beach

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As I listened the other day to Mr. Garcia and the City Manager Tom Modica discuss the proposed 2021 LB budget and its vast complexities, I found it impossible to maintain my concentration and to keep from falling asleep.

Actually, I found most of what these two fine gentlemen said insufferably meaningless in reciting all the city's accomplishments the past five Coronavirus months since neither even mentioned that disastrous May 31st downtown looting frenzy that ruined so many businesses and caused so many people so much heartache and monetary nightmares.

Oh, Mr. Garcia, without once using the word de-funding in his hollow oration, continues to target his police department in not so subtle ways and follow in the tiny, mousy footsteps of his idol to the north, the ghastly Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti.

I have no idea how many committees will be formed at Mr. Garcia's insistence in upcoming months, if not years, to scrutinize its tactics in an obvious attempt to soften its approach to crime, which it did recently with predictably regrettable results.

In fact, Mr. Garcia was so fond of its pacifistic Memorial Day conduct that he said afterwards "our police department did a great job."

And he said it with a straight face, mind you, thereby showing that he can always turn to Hollywood if his political fortunes happen to falter.

Actually, incredibly, Robert Luna echoed Mr. Garcia's sentiments, and to this day no one has stepped bravely forward and accepted blame for what happened that dark evening that resulted in millions upon millions of dollars being lost by Long Beach merchants.

What I don't understand is that Robert Garcia and his cronies are looking to tighten up the city's budget that has a $30 million shortfall with the police cuts that inevitably will wind up further endangering the public's safety, yet Garcia himself has a bloated, unneeded 10-person staff, twice as many as his predecessor, Bob Foster, had and more than three times as many as Beverly O'Neill (3).

I'm certain if Mr. Garcia hired an efficiency expert, and turned the person loose on a few of his departments, the snoop could find, well, several hundred people drawing pay checks from the city of Long Beach who are useless (those at the top of the LBUSD immediately come to mind).

What I don't understand is the measured, careful response from the president of the Long Beach Police Office Association, a Mr. Rich Chambers, who did point out, among other things, the potential dangers of "replacing our first responders with unarmed civilians is not an acceptable alternative."

I hear Mr. Chambers is a top-notch cop and a swell fellow, but he should shed the Mr. Nice Guy persona and become slightly more vitriolic when 50 of his colleagues are being thrown out of their jobs.

It is the overwhelming feeling here that Messrs. Garcia and Modica and their usual rubberstamping partners on the City Council are determined to dramatically remake Long Beach in their own myopic vision, even though the potential makeover inevitably will turn out to be harmful to so many in the community. . .

There are five restrooms at the corner of Ocean and 62nd Street on the Peninsula, and certainly they come in handy to the adults and kids frolicking in the nearby beaches. Yet more than half the time they're closed. The Marina Police, who are in charge of opening them each morning, have been too often delinquent in such duties in recent times.

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Previously by Mr. Krikorian: