Over Time… First the city manager. Then the mayor. Now the police chief. One by one, Pacific Grove’s top officials are stepping down. P.G. Police Chief Darius Engles, who submitted his resignation Aug. 12, says he’ll probably file retirement papers in order to draw his CalPERS benefits, but “it really is a resignation… Retirement wasn’t the reason.” He’s fed up with the city’s ongoing money crunch, which has whittled the force down from 28 full-time officers in 2005 to an average of 19 today. Engles has been with the PGPD for 11 years and served as chief for the past two and a half. His resignation will take effect in January. [KA]

Time Out… Just two days before Engles announced his retirement, Seaside City Manager Ray Corpuz placed Police Chief Steve Cercone on administrative leave, after Cercone placed Deputy Chief Louis Lumpkin, Sgt. Barry Pasquarosa and Cmdr. Mike Kimball on leave. Rumors are flying, but District Attorney Dean Flippo has confirmed Cercone asked the DA’s office to look into potential foul play in his department shortly before he was ousted. The case appears to be related to a sexual harassment claim made by Seaside code enforcer Vanessa Alcaraz. A former department employee says Corpuz interfered when Cercone asked the DA to investigate Kimball and Pasquarosa. Corpuz says he can’t comment, referring related questions to city counsel Rick Bolanos of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, who could not be reached at press time. Stephen Willis is interim chief. [KA]

Temper, Temper… Del Rey Oaks Councilman Jeff Cecilio boiled over at the Aug. 13 council meeting, fuming that his colleagues were prolonging action on the vote of no confidence against Mayor Joe Russell. After Cecilio stormed out of the meeting, the council directed the city manager to complete an internal investigation and schedule a public meeting by Aug. 27. [ZS]

Locals Only… The Pacific Grove Farmers Market has been struggling to fill its non-certified section peddling arts and prepared foods. So organizer Iris Peppard of Everyone’s Harvest, with the support of the P.G. Planning Commission, asked the City Council to expand the rules to allow non-certified vendors from within the county, rather than just P.G. The council rejected the request Aug. 5. The Everyone’s Harvest board, meanwhile, decided not to budge on the market’s Lighthouse Avenue location, despite protest by P.G. Chamber PresidentMoe Ammar. [KA]