After more than two decades as a Signal Hill Civil Service Commissioner, Steve Strichart chose not to seek reappointment for another four-year term. The Signal Hill City Council formally recognized his service during its Tuesday, May 25 meeting.
Mayor Edward Wilson presented Strichart with a City proclamation marking his participation on the commission from 1997 to 2021, serving as chairperson five times.
“Steve has demonstrated exemplary conduct and sense of fairness in his role as a civil service commissioner,” Wilson said. “Steve has exhibited, in practical and professional ways, his willingness to place his concern for the public good ahead of his personal interests.”
The role of Signal Hill’s five-member Civil Service Commission is to determine employee eligibility for classified municipal jobs and hear employee appeals over suspensions, demotions or dismissals. Grievance hearings are confidential and only shared in recommendations to the city council.
“I enjoyed it,” Strichart said of his years of service. “One of the things I strived for while I was on the commission was when we sent a recommendation to the council, it was either a 5-0 or at least a 4-1 decision to show how much work we put in, and the hours that we put in, so the council understood where we were coming from.”
Wilson affirmed that, though the proclamation couldn’t list the confidential work Strichart did, he helped the City deal with employees fairly.
“It’s quite a responsibility when you’ve got somebody’s job in your hands, or possible suspension, which means a loss of pay,” Strichart said. “They have family, they have kids—you don’t take that lightly. We put a lot of thought and a lot of deliberation into every case.”
Council members and City staff expressed appreciation for Strichart as well, including his ability to offer advice and participate in city events.
“One of the things that we talk to people about when they apply to be a commissioner is asking them to really be a representative of the city, and be a ‘face’ of the city,” Councilmember Tina Hansen said. “You have done that just miles above so many other people as far as your commitment to the city, your love of the city.”
Wilson noted that Strichart often brings his reptile collection to exhibit at city events and Councilmember Robert Copeland said Strichart recommended the local adoption agency from which his family got their greyhound.
“You’ve helped not only develop the City and keep us legally sound,” Councilmember Lori Woods said. “You’ve helped the other commissioners through the years.”
City Manager Hannah Shin-Heydorn recounted one year when she and Strichart were getting ready to volunteer for the city’s Halloween carnival and there was a car accident in the street.
“Steve was the first one bolting up the hill, ready to help—calm, cool and collected,” Shin-Heydorn said. “He has such a heart of service and puts others in front of himself.”
Strichart—a retired police officer and former associate publisher of the Signal Tribune newspaper—said he plans to continue volunteering even though he’s no longer a commissioner.
“I am very proud of this city,” he said. “We do more for our community and our residents than many cities around us.”
In April, the council had appointed a replacement commissioner—Julianne Doi—to take Strichart’s place on the Civil Service Commission, joining commissioners Ayda Ghebrezghi, Daritza Gonzalez, Ronald Griggs and Paul Patterson.
“I take my hat off to the people that are there now,” Strichart said of the Civil Service Commission. “They’re all good people, and I know they’re going to do a good job.”
