LOS ANGELES — Former Democratic Congresswoman and current California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter is expressing regret and admitting to falling short in her behavior with the press and her staff in interactions publicly exposed in the last week. In response to video showing her being aggressive and cursing in a difficult-to-watch exchange with a young female employee during an official congressional communication with the U.S. Department of Energy in 2021, Porter wants people to know that she really values her staff, but that she needs to do a better job of expressing appreciation for the amazing work her team does. Porter also said she can handle tough questions after she refused to do so during a routine interview with the press.
LAX has its own version of Katie Porter in LAXPD Chief Cecil Rhambo.
Rhambo’s Steppingstone
Even after a controversial tenure as assistant sheriff with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Rhambo came to LAXPD with much hope and hype. LAAPOA and the airport community welcomed him with much support and fanfare.
Within a year, that goodwill was expended. Rhambo took a leave of absence from his position as chief of LAXPD to launch a campaign for Los Angeles County sheriff — the position he had coveted for his entire career. He used LAXPD as a steppingstone to run for the job he felt he could not get without it.
After standing for nothing, supporting everything, and selling out law enforcement and the citizens of Los Angeles, Rhambo, formerly the #3 top person with 33 years at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, finished fourth in the race for the top job. Two of the candidates who beat Rhambo had been subordinates to him during his time at the Sheriff’s Department, and the winner had come from a smaller, less prestigious department.
As a sign of how far the candidate had fallen, Rhambo attributed his loss to Los Angeles County not being ready for a Black sheriff.
“Katie-esque”
Back at LAXPD, Chief Rhambo’s former adjutant filed an ethics complaint, which included accusations that Rhambo had his sworn and civilian staff collect contributions for his campaign for sheriff and ordered subordinates to cancel tickets that had been issued to his campaign contributors.
On his return to the airport, Rhambo has become “Katie-esque.” His personality is erratic. His temperament is disproportionately triggered by vanity and the outside world’s perception of him, as opposed to the working apparatus of his department and its officers.
Rhambo has increasingly exhibited resentment, outwardly and subversively, toward the rank and file and most of the command staff he is supposed to lead. While little things matter, consistency is core. After dressing down a supervisor for not writing up officers with facial hair, Rhambo had to be shown the “new uniform beard” policy he himself had authored for the supervisor to avoid being disciplined himself.
We Are Screaming It From the Mountaintops
There is unease within LAXPD. Morale is waning. Leadership is needed. Retention is important. Recruitment is competitive. People talk. Change is needed.
“Discussions about removing Chief Rhambo have been ongoing,” said LAAPOA President Marshall McClain. “We have been working behind the scenes to move this process along. That has not happened. It is almost as though the powers that be at LAWA like having a shell of leadership here. I can tell you that when something bad happens — and it will — they will not be happy. No one here in leadership, from our CEO on down, has been at LAX when something really bad has happened. Many of us have. We need real leadership before the FIFA World Cup and certainly before the Olympics. Mostly, before something happens. LAX is the highest-profile and most targeted terrorist mark on the West Coast. We take our oath and responsibilities seriously and solemnly. It is time for a new LAXPD chief. We are screaming it from the mountaintops. It should not come to this, but we will not stop until we have leadership that we can stand behind and beside with confidence and pride.”