The Oakland Press has an editorial in today’s edition suggesting that the City of Rochester should revisit the issue of contracting for police services with the sheriff’s department. Essentially it says: “There were big problems with the management of the department, and this is evidenced by the Nottley Report and the resignation of the police chief”. They go on to suggest that these are reasons to consider disbanding the local police and contracting with the sheriff.

Their conclusion is totally wrong. The community outrage at the suggestion to replace the local police, coupled with the city council input into the Nottley Report and the ultimate resignation of the police chief, is precisely the direction the city needs to head. Although he is still bucking the city council, I think that the city manager’s position is also in jeopardy.

Today was the first day of my active campaigning. With the assistance of my wife Kathy and two friends, we went door-to-door in several neighborhoods.

It was a pleasure to meet almost everyone who answered the door, and I thank each of you who might be visiting my website for talking with me or for just accepting my printed material.

The City of Rochester has some very bright, dedicated and educated people in their employ. Using the police department as an example, here is a sampling of that education.

• Law Degree
• Master Degrees
• Bachelor Degrees
• Advanced Police Management Training

Keep in mind that all of these employees are rank-and-file union members and not a department head. Virtually every police officer has, at a minimum, a Bachelor degree in addition to the required police training. The department, as a whole, is highly educated and dedicated.

The management of the City of Rochester needs to be done in as transparent a manner as possible. All city meetings need to be recorded with both video and audio equipment, and archived for later use. These meeting videos, as well as detailed written minutes of the substance of the meetings, need to be made available on the city website so that anyone and everyone can see for themselves just what the business of the city is.

If you retire from your current employer, and remarry ten years after you retire, is your new spouse going to be covered by your employer’s health care plan?

At last nights council meeting, during a discussion about the possibility of affording the police chief increased health care benefits if he retires before July 1st, I learned that this is exactly the benefit that the non-union employees of the City of Rochester have.

Once retired, should the employee remarry at some point in the future, the new spouse will be afforded health care coverage in the same manner in which the employee is provided health care coverage. Unbelievable.

City Manager Ken Johnson had a lot to say last night when he announced to city council that Police Chief Ted Glynn had resigned effective June 30, 2007.

In hindsight, it seems like the genesis of the study was a witch hunt against the Chief- City Manager Ken Johnson

…certain members of council took it upon themselves to conduct a vendetta against the Chief.- City Manager Ken Johnson

I have always, and always will, encourage and accept constructive criticism of myself or my staff if it is meant to improve the operations of the City, but criticism to simply tear down an individual in a destructive way is inappropriate.- City Manager Ken Johnson

Wow.

In my opinion, Ken Johnson orchestrated the attempt to dissolve the Rochester Police Department last fall. With the assistance of Councilperson Karen Lewis, Johnson made several moves designed not only to oust the command and patrol unions, but obviously to oust the police chief as well had his attempts to turn over police services to the sheriff department been successful.

Unintended Consequences

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you plan. Often times the Law of Unintended Consequences sneaks into the picture and the tables get turned around. And that’s just what happened here. Johnson has just suffered a major setback at the hands of the city council, who he has handily kept in his back pocket for decades.

Now comes the resignation of the police chief and the indignant manner in which Ken Johnson addressed the city council. His suggestions that there were “vendettas”, “destructive and inappropriate behavior” or “witch hunts” by the council are ridiculous. Johnson’s plan to destroy the city police department were thwarted by the outrage of the community and the resulting pressure placed on the city council. Along with three council members friendly to the police, this public outcry was just enough to force a fourth vote to prevent taking steps to bring in the sheriff and replace the city police.