It wasn’t odd for Bill LaPointe to sometimes break away from his job as Culver City’s director of parks, recreation and community services for months at a time.

So when word came suddenly last month that LaPointe had opted to take the city up on its offer of early retirement, his colleagues had no fears about the department he headed for five years skipping any beats.

“He had already told is he was going to take the golden handshake,” said Pam Robinson, a 20-year department employee who often oversaw its day-to-day operations when LaPointe was out of town.

“After that initial shock we sat down and talked and decided we would move forward and make it as seamless as possible.”

So it is that Robinson now finds herself in the role of interim director, the new woman in charge as the department prepares not only for its busy summer season, but for the probable reality of putting on its programs with less money as the city completes its budgeting process before the onset of the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

 Robinson was appointed to shepherd the department — which includes between 15 and 20 full-time employees, and sometimes as many as 100 part-time workers — by former city manager Mark Scott late last month in one of his final moves before leaving for the same post in his native Fresno.

According to Robinson, she has been informed the city will keep her in the director’s chair for at least six months, allowing the city to grapple with the aforementioned budget and the hiring of Scott’s replacement before moving down the governmental pecking order and selecting a permanent chief for parks and rec. During that half-year tenure, she doesn’t expect any major shakeups as far as how the department does business.

“I take my direction from the city manager,” said Robinson, referring to another temporary boss currently in the city’s governmental hierarchy, interim city manager P. Lamont Ewell. “If there is something the city feels needs to be implemented then I will certainly take the lead on that.

“For the five minutes that we’re talking, I’m not looking at implementing anything new. But I don’t want to carve that in stone. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?”

Tomorrow may not offer any twists or challenges, but Robinson will have plenty on her plate in coming months, with everything from the hundreds of recreation programs offered through the city to the massive Fiesta La Ballona celebration that will take place come August.

Having served as LaPointe’s right-hand woman, she’s ready to guide the department through the onslaught to come.

“Everybody’s moving forward. It’s kind of that theater background, ‘The show must go on,’” said Robinson with a laugh. “Keep everything running … it’s back to that seamless attitude we want to create around here.”

Speaking of seamless transitions, Robinson admitted she has not come to a decision yet about whether she wants to be considered for the permanent director’s position once her interim gig comes to a close.

“I’m really in the enviable position of being able to do the job for a while before I need to make that decision,” Robinson said. “But I’m so glad I don’t need to make that decision right now. … How many people get to say that?”