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.

Had Johnson properly supervised the police chief during the past twenty years, none of this would be an issue and nobody would be talking about it. Although Johnson took a management approach that had himself controlling the day-to-day details and operation of the police department, he failed in overseeing or controlling the management and direction of the department. There was no forward thinking, no planning and no strategy taken toward managing the department. Had Johnson stepped back and allowed the police chief to manage the department, perhaps the mess never would have occurred in the first place. But Johnson wanted to control all the details. And so he did.

Johnson is to Blame

Ironically, Ted Glynn is not to blame. He was was just doing what Johnson wanted, which was city manager control over details. Every detail. Every day. And finally, after twenty years, somebody began to recognize that the ship was without a rudder. Johnson was at the helm, every day - like clockwork. But he was skippering a rudderless ship. Ironically, the “skipper” drove the ship onto a sandbar last August when he postured to dissolve the police department. When the community objected, and pushed the ship off of the sandbar and back into the the safe waters of the harbor, they began to wonder just who had piloted the ship into harms way in the first place. And the public began to ask questions. For the first time. Ever.

This public outcry resulted in the now infamous Nottley Police Report. The report caused most reasonable people to take note of Johnson’s failing - after all, he was the “skipper” who ran the ship aground. But the fall guy was Chief Glynn. The chief had done what Johnson demanded for the past twenty years. Norhing less and nothing more. The sad fact is that Johnson demanded the wrong things from his department head. The consultant report, while taking a moderate tone as one would expect, pointed out Johnson’s failings - which manifested themselves through Chief Glynn. Let there be no misunderstanding on this point - Johnson is the one who failed, and Nottley was the one who pointed it out.

The Grip is Slipping

After it all played out, Ken Johnson lost. He lost his grip on the police department. He lost his grip on Chief Glynn. He lost his grip on public support for his actions. And he is about to lose his grip on his 30 year support from city council. It’s understandable that he is frustrated. But to characterize the elected, governing body of this city in the manner he did was inaccurate, rude, arrogant and out of place. “Vendettas” by city council? “Witch hunt” by city council? “Inappropriate and destructive behavior” by city council?

Please.

What do you think?

This entry was posted Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 8:06 pm and is filed under General. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.