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« John and Elizabeth Edwards | Main | Part of the story »

Mar 22, 2007

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sean coon

my over/under on him not being given a chance to represent the position before being buried in broad strokes of negativity:

10 comments

Laurie

Woo-hoo! Good for Tim! I'm amazed that anybody would want the job, but I think he's done a good job handling everything so far.

Patrick Eakes

comment #3, moving things along

Bubba

Let me stop it right here.

#1 and # 3 are EXACTLY the attitude that some of us intend to hold people accountable on this blog.

If you're concerned about trolls, Ed.....look no further than how the two I've referenced are contributing to the problem.

sean coon

i think tim bellamy is a good choice for police chief. bubba, what do you think about the choice?

JohnC

Comment #5... are we there yet? No? Why am I not surprised?

Bubba

"i think tim bellamy is a good choice for police chief. bubba, what do you think about the choice?"

I think the entire process should have been open to the public.

sean coon

how would that work, exactly? the public reviews and comments on the final candidates? that wouldn't be a bad idea... so, aside from the process, are you satisfied with the choice?

Bubba

What choice was there?

Ed Cone

Doug Clark wrote about the perils of a closed process here, and included an example of a more open process in Spokane.

Nevertheless, we are where we are.

Bellamy is the chief of police we've got.

He was with GPD during its glory days. People seem to speak well of him...can people who are disgusted with the process (and the process that led to it) yet have no specific objections to Bellamy himself give him a chance?

Bubba

So who were the other candidates from which the choice was made?

David Hoggard

Mitch Johnson explained the process before the announcement was made He said, in effect, "I am convinced that the best prospects for such a job can be found when the candidates are assured complete confidentiality."

He's got a point.

If I were the Chief of a large metro and a headhunter came a callin', I would prefer that my current employment not be questioned when my name comes up in a search process in some other city.

During the press conference Johnson spent considerable time exhaustively outlining the selection process including introducing members of the citizen's committee that was instrumental in choosing between the the final four candidates. Although I don't recall all their names, there was a state supreme court justice on the panel as well as Mike Bumpass, Al Lineberry jr and others of great integrity and vested interest in having a great police department.

Tim Bellamy will be a very fine Chief. He jumped into a trial by fire when he accepted the interim position and has, in my opinion, performed extremely well.

sean coon

good points, david.

Bubba

"Mitch Johnson explained the process before the announcement was made He said, in effect, "I am convinced that the best prospects for such a job can be found when the candidates are assured complete confidentiality."

He's got a point."

Of course he does. I'd probably say and do the same thing if i was Mitch Johnson, given the influences he's subjected to, and knowing what we know about the GPD situation and his role in it.

David Hoggard

It was a good press conference, BTW, as far as such things go. There were several rounds of spontaneous applause for Bellamy at various and appropriate times. The longest and loudest of the clapping emitted from the large contingent of police department members in attendance. A show of unity? Of course. But they are obviously ready to move forward.

Another good point Johnson made was this: After speaking with every member of the department that chose to provide input to him privately (all were invited), about half thought it best to hire from the outside and the other half thought a new Chief chosen from among their ranks would do the best job of leading the department out of its current morass.

Johnson stated that it was obviously impossible to satisfy both criteria. Again, I think it was the correct decision.

Fred Gregory

What Bubba said.

David Hoggard

The mere fact that Bubba and Fred both think Johnson hired a good man is an encouraging sign for all of us.

mick

Sean,

Where's our money?

Bubba

"The mere fact that Bubba and Fred both think Johnson hired a good man is an encouraging sign for all of us."

Ah yes, the famous Hoggard "Consensus Opinion" without actually determining such is once again heard from.

I repeat my questions, and add several more to the mix:

...Who were the candidates that were considered?

...How were they chosen?

...What criteria were used in determining the eventual selectee?

...Where and what was the public input in the process?

...Who actually made the final choice?

...Why do we not hear these same questions posed from our local media (Doug Clark's contribution excepted)?

And here's one directed at Hoggard:

When's the next blogger meetup with Mitch?

Roch101

As much as it pains me to say, Bubba's questions are not illegitimate. (Although the public input process, as it existed, was pretty well publicized.)

Ed Cone

I don't think anyone is saying the questions are not legit. They were good questions when Doug Clark raised them a couple of weeks ago, which is why I linked to Doug then.

Hoggard's comment is useful, too, in explaining the process as it played out. It may be that we won't get a full list of the candidates considered, but the more transparency we get, the better.

Roch101

I don't think that anyone is saying that anyone is saying that the questions are not legit.

Ed Cone

...then why lead a comment by saying they aren't illegitmate? You're the one who framed the issue in terms of legitimacy in the first place.

sean coon

the dance around the simple question of "do you feel tim bellamy is a good choice for police chief?" is breathtaking.

fred astaire puddling jumping, mikhail baryshnikov white nights, michael jackson off the wall breathtaking.

not knowing who else was in the running doesn't impede one from looking at the appointment at hand.

Bubba

"the dance around the simple question of "do you feel tim bellamy is a good choice for police chief?" is breathtaking."

If there really WAS a "choice" involved with the selection, your comment might not be just some more of the nonsense noise on this issue.

Try again.


mick

I have no expertise in selecting police chiefs so I will defer to those whose job it is to do so. The references to the committee I have seen shows the members to be an outstanding group of community leaders. Oddly enough I trust the process.

All I know is that TB seems to have held up well during his tenure as interim police chief. Which is an accomplishment unto itself.

Personally, I think the Wray, Hinson, Pulpit Forum, Project Homestead and perhaps even the latest finiancial shenanigans are all somehow related. Too many similar/same players.

Fan meet $@#^. $@#^ this is fan.

Sean,
Your elaborate trap seems to have failed. Where's our money?

sean coon

the check is in the mail, mick.

Bubba

"Personally, I think the Wray, Hinson, Pulpit Forum, Project Homestead and perhaps even the latest finiancial shenanigans are all somehow related. Too many similar/same players."

Ah, you've spoken the words that everyone else here wants to avoid regarding this thread.

Thanks for the contribution, Mick..

Let's see what the response will be to your comment.

Roch101

You crack me up sometimes, Ed. Should any assertion be met with "Nobody is saying...?" When you write, "We are where we are," does that warrant, "Nobody is saying we aren't where we are?" Sure, I suppose, if one just wants to foster argument.

Roch101

Sean, in my case, the process questions are not a dance around whether or not Bellamy was a good choice (on that issue, I don't have much of an opinion other than to wait and see). There has been an ongoing tendency of city government fighting against openness. That is important to me. Criticism of closed government gets my support, even if raised by Bubba.

sean coon

hoggard made it clear (for me at least) that there's a difference between open government and open job interviews.

in what world should job applicants be paraded around in the public square for a thumbs up or down vote? sure, there are public trust issues at play with the gpd and city hall, but the police chief is not an elected position.

that being the case, the only thing left to do is speak to how mitch johnson handled the appointment process. so here is my question:

how could he have made it more "open" without exposing the candidates?

Brenda Bowers

Okay, I broke down and came over to Ed’s site from Joe's. Wasn’t that informative! So I will take it upon myself to anwer the question no one else seems to recall any answers to.

What is wrong with Tim Bellamy’s appointment? He has been a player all along in every one of the “problem” areas and his actions were less than what would be expected a mediocre police officer let alone one who is now Chief of Police. He was Hinson’s supervisor when he caught Hinson with an illegal civilian prostitute in his police car and he looked the other way. Hinson was breaking a law in two ways, having a civilian in his police car and fraternizing with a “shady lady”. He was Hinson’s supervisor when much of Hinson’s working two jobs at the same time took place. Hinson was caught red handed stealing from the city coffers!……what did TB do about that? He was the “snitch” in Wray’s command structure as his comments on events after Wray’s resignation show. He has had a year and a half to do some cleaning house in the police department and all he has done is protect the criminals in the department and make damned sure those who were investigating the criminals have been punished. I could go on and on but you all get my message, and any one point I have made should have kept him from consideration for this job.
Does anyone espect TB to restore the publics respect for the GPD? Yes Mitchell Johnson and those who can surely be considered brain dead. BB

sean coon

off by 21... i'm getting rusty.

Bubba

"off by 21... i'm getting rusty."

No, just irrelevant.

sean coon

you were quite the ladies man back in 1920 with these quick one-liners, weren't you, bubba?

Bubba

You know, Sean, if we were to judge you by the old saying, "What you don't know can't hurt you," you must be practically invulnerable.

JohnC

That's a knee slapper, Bubba! You're the cat's pajamas.

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