Monday, May 14, 2007 | In response to the mayor’s piece, the mayor is standing up for an employee which is a good thing, but he is spinning the issue which his office has become very adapt at accomplishing. He takes the topic from actual “mistakes” to the chief is a good person with honorable service. I have no doubt the chief is a good person, but his actions also speak loudly. It appears the chief may have political aspirations with his actions. This is the same chief that walked into the City Council session with the district attorney to support policy changes, the same chief who went to a court room to testify for a councilman, the same chief that testified before council committee about statistics when negotiations were in progress (making mistakes), the same chief who called the Mayor’s Office about a search warrant, and the same chief that says recruitment and retention are high on his priority list but takes a long time to get a plan or results (his PSAs get aired on Channel 24 which really gets to the target audience).
Yes words and action matter, but they have to be taken in the bigger picture and to minimize the “mistakes” he made also brings about an incorrect picture. We expect more from the chief and when the mayor defends the mistakes it raises other questions.