The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 111, No. 1 - January 6, 2022
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................9
Crossword/Sudoku.............9
Legals.............................. 8,10
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................11
Real Estate.......................5-7
Sports.............................. 3,11
Travel............................... 2,12
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Mostly
Cloudy
57˚/50˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
60˚/48˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
65˚/50˚
Our ESUSD Officers for 2022
L-R: Emilee Layne, Tracey Miller-Zarneke, Dr. Melissa Moore, Paulette Caudill, Dieema Wheaton and Michael Wagner. The ESUSD Board of Education held its annual organizational meeting, where the Board sets
the meeting dates for the upcoming year and elects new officers. The Board of Education officers for the 2022 calendar year are as follows: Tracey Miller-Zarneke, President; Dieema Wheaton, Vice President;
Paulette Caudill, Clerk; Michael Wagner, Member; Emilee Layne, Member. Thank you ESUSD for everything you do for our students, faculty and parents. Photo courtesy El Segundo Unified School District.
Dieema Wheaton Has Always
More than Balanced the Books
By Duane Plank
El Segundo School Board member Dieema
Wheaton, a certified public accountant by trade,
was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated
from Crenshaw High School, terming her
formative years “a really wonderful experience.”
She then matriculated far, far from home to
Mississippi, where thanks to a scholarship, she
was able to attend Tougaloo College in Jackson,
where she would eventually earn her Bachelor
of Arts degree in economics/accounting.
While excited to receive a scholarship to
attend college, Wheaton said she was not
particularly gung-ho to continue her schooling
in the Magnolia State, thousands of miles
away from her Los Angeles area roots. She
remembers thinking, “I am not going to Mississippi,”
but soon got over her reticence after
traveling to and discovering the charms that
the surroundings of Tougaloo College, founded
in 1869, had to offer.
She said once she became immersed in her
new collegiate life, she gained an appreciation
of the traditions of a region outside of her
comfort zone. “If you are only looking from
the outside, you can miss the overall blessing,”
she said of exploring new environs. “I had the
best time, as a young woman, transitioning,” she
added to an unfamiliar environment. “I think
I picked up most of my values in Mississippi;
family first, knowing that your actions often
reflect on your family and that you are not
just this one individual…I represent (others).
Your family name is your brand, and you do
not want to bring shame to the entire brand.
And I found that to be rewarding; I live by
that principle now.”
Initially, Wheaton thought she would pursue
an educational path that would lead her to become
a doctor or lawyer. A solid plan, except
for one problem. Wheaton said that one of the
prerequisites to becoming a doctor was acing a
college chemistry curriculum, a non-starter for
her. “Chemistry and I really did not get along,”
she chuckled. She soon realized that she was
“good at this little thing called accounting. I
liked it, it liked me. I continued to pursue it,”
she said, and soon she was drawing a paycheck
as an accountant.
Excelling in her chosen field of study during
her tenure in college, she received a job offer
from the globally prestigious accounting firm
KPMG in 1997 to work in their Los Angeles
office, a year before she graduated from
college. She has also worked in the finance
departments of Universal Music and Sony
Pictures Entertainment.
She calls her years with KPMG “humbling,”
with “lots and lots of challenging work.” She
said 60-hour workweeks were the norm during
the firm’s busy season, and she remembers thinking
to herself, “oh my gosh, I will never (have
the time) to get married and have kids.” But,
she added, “life has a way of working out. I
(now) have three kids and a wonderful husband.”
That would be husband Andrew, and daughters,
16-year-old Sarah, an El Segundo High School
11th grader, Grace, 15, a high school tenth
grader, and 11-year-old son Aaron, repping
the Wheaton family brand as a sixth grader
See Dieema Wheaton, page 4
ES School Board member Dieema Wheaton. Photo courtesy of
Dieema Wheaton.
Jaime Bermudez is Police Chief
The City of El Segundo is proud to announce
the selection of Jaime Bermudez to
serve as its new police chief. In this role, he
will lead and direct all Police Department
operations and continue the City’s strong
commitment to maintaining a safe community.
Chief Bermudez has been a member
of the El Segundo Police Department since
1992, where he rose through the ranks
from police cadet to captain, before being
selected as the next police chief.
Chief Bermudez brings a wealth of
knowledge and expertise to the position. He
has a thorough understanding of the Police
Department’s operations, with a strong focus
on serving the needs of the broader
community. He has worked numerous
specialized assignments throughout his
law enforcement career in patrol, training,
professional standards, and investigations.
As a captain, Bermudez managed the
Administrative Services Bureau overseeing
investigations, community engagement,
and the Police Department budget. Most
recently, Bermudez oversaw all field operations
in patrol, special operations, and
traffic enforcement.
Chief Bermudez earned a Bachelor of
Science Degree from Long Beach State
University and a Master of Arts Degree
from Chapman University. He is a strong
advocate for formal education and is proud
of the diversity he brings to the Department
and the law enforcement profession.
His professional training includes Sherman
Block Supervisory Leadership Institute,
Executive Leadership Institute at Drucker
School of Management, CA POST Command
College, and the USC Public Safety
Leadership Program.
Chief Bermudez has been serving as interim
police chief since July 2021 and his appoint
ment became permanent on January 1, 2022.
– Provided by City of El Segundo.