Saturday, March 06, 2010

The whitewashing must end; Council should deal with the root cause of Cheshire's crisis

With Cheshire Police Union President Kerry Deegan suspended, the Union's VP Joe Mazzini is speaking on their behalf. The MRJs Jesse Buchanan reports:

Police Lt. and union vice president Joseph Mazzini was displeased with the report, saying it didn't address the concerns that led to last year's no-confidence vote.

"The situation was grossly understated in the report," he said. "This report does nothing; it doesn't address our concerns."


Lt. Mazzini is absolutely correct.

And as the NHRs Luther Turmelle reported, I'm already on the record agreeing with Mazzini:

“To me, it’s a whitewash of the real problems” between the town manager and those people who report to him.

Also disturbing to me is the analysis provided by ICMA that suggests the TM and Personnel Director have done a good job. Absolutely ridiculous. The fact is that they are principals in this investigation who knew about the problems long before they took any action whatsoever.*

To paper over their abject failure in mediating this conflict - as well as their involvement in other PD-related problems - is worse than a whitewashing of this crisis. But what's to be expected here? The TM is a member of ICMA. Therefore, ICMAs independence is impaired. And the TM controls the budget. So did anyone actually expect any sort of criticism of him? Ha!

IMO, the best course of action for the Council to address these problems - along with other problems, such as the DPW - is to stop looking at the symptoms and deal with the root cause.

Tim White

* In fact, I made sure the TM knew of this problem at least six months before he took any action. But of course, when I mention something of this nature to him he just gets angry, raises his voices, effectively tells me my input is not wanted and ignores me.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is not a "crisis" compared to other towns (Madison comes to mind). This is a management vs employee problem and it happens everyday in the world. Stop your complaining and not become part of the problem but the solution. The newspapers want to sell papers and are waiting for any type of commenting to stir the pot. Sit back and think about this before you speak. Who is right or wrong doesn't matter at this time fixing the problem is. Get to work with your fellow TC members and don't make this a bigger problem. SOLVE IT!

tim white said...

Crisis: A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point

A unanimous vote of no confidence in the Chief is not a crisis?

IMO, if decisive action isn't taken, history will show this moment in time to be "the turning point."

Anonymous said...

Hey Tim how about an opinion on the Mike Evans issue? Someone raises the issue of police brutality, which is obviously false after viewing the booking are tape,and you don't voice an opinion? You jump on the oportunity to criticize the Town Manager or jump on the band wagon of the the Police Unions issues, but fail to even mention the allegations raised by Mr Evans. Here's your chance Tim, stick your neck out and let the public know how your thoughts on the video tape.

Anonymous said...

Why should Tim stick his neck out? I'm sure this isn't the first DUI case in which something like this has happened. Why the big fuss? Let the courts do their job and let the person have his day in court. We should be thankful nobody got hurt. Hope things work out for all.

Anonymous said...

Here he goes-

TALK TALK TALK TALK

OR

COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN

Oh TIIMMMMMMMMMMEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY

Wipe your tears it didn't work out the way you wanted it to-too bad so sad:(

Wahhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhh Wahhhhhh

Anonymous said...

"Why should Tim stick his neck out? "

In the political world, silence is acceptance of something negative. If Tim were against drunk driving, he would have made a comment about Mike Evans activities. Keeping quiet shows that Tim is ok with Mike drinking and driving.

Anonymous said...

RE: "Keeping quiet shows that Tim is ok with Mike (Evans) drinking and driving".

Nonsense. No other elected official has publicly addressed these incidents either. Does that mean they all condone drunk driving?!

Of course not. They correctly recognize that these matters involve the courts, not the council.

Anonymous said...

You are right, but which other public offical has a town wide blog so everyone knows his thoughts? Tim should be prepared to address every topic as long as he claims to "listen"

Anonymous said...

RE: Tim should be prepared to address every topic as long as he claims to "listen"

Tim does address most political topics on this blog. However, Mr. Evans' recent problems are not political, and Tim refuses to politicize them despite your baiting.

Anonymous said...

Making fun of the town drunk is about as cowardly as it gets for some people in town. I guess it makes them feel better about themselves. Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Sorry people but I think the quote was "stick your neck out and let the public know your thoughts on the video tape". I agree, no one should pick on the town drunk, but that town drunk made allegations he was "physically assaulted" while trying to view an officers name tag. I'm sure Tim watched the tape but I don't see him standing up defending the officer that was involved, or even rendering an opinion on how the officers handled that incident?

Anonymous said...

I'm sure all the council members saw the tape, but we don't hear any of them rendering an opinion. So why single Tim out? Let the police and courts deal with it.

Anonymous said...

There is no reason any council member needs to publicly offer their view of the incident unless and until it were to come before the council.

Anonymous said...

Timmmmeyyyyyyyyyyy

Anonymous said...

Oh-I was just chanting our Leader Tim White's nickname-

Timmmmmmmmeeeyyyyy

Timmmmmmmmmeeeyyyyyyy

Timmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Come on Try it, I bet if you say that 3 times you will smile:)

Anonymous said...

Out of curiousity, what is Mike Evans status on the Town Retirement Board? Having such an open dispute with the police has to be some sort of conflict. Could any retirement issues involving the PD become a financial nightmare while Evans is still on the board?

Mr Evans should consider stepping down from the board considering the personal riff he has created with the officers.

Anonymous said...

9:49
Give it up...your lack of any intellectual input on this blog is getting old.

Can you say anything that is worthwhile here?

Sounds like a jealous dem who lost in an embarassing sweep last November.

Anonymous said...

"Sounds like a jealous dem who lost in an embarassing sweep last November."

Not surprising behavior. I mean...this is a party that puts up the town drunk for a position on the TC. That pretty much says it all.

But what do you expect from a party that believes the town is just stupid enough to forget that the issues at the CPD developed under their watch.

Maybe instead of a jackass for their party logo they should use a funnel instead.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

To say that the Democrats' logo should be a funnel makes an intelligent point, ie: that Democrats waste money.

To say the Republican logo should be a "dildo" is just plain salacious and childish, and demonstrates the immaturity of some Democrats on these pages.

Anonymous said...

This current council has had 5 months to deal with this issue and they can't even get "the facts", when do we hear a solution?

Anonymous said...

RE: "This current council has had 5 months to deal with this issue"

No, they've had only 3 months (12 weeks) to begin dealing with problems that brewed for years under Milone and the Know-Nothing Dem council. Your misstatement of facts is nothing but partisan snipping.

Anonymous said...

So they took last Nov. off? They did no research? Is the March meeting not Tuesday. So if you want they to only be responsible for 3 months that means they did nothing after the election and have nothing to add on Tuesday. I call that five months and a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

1:35 still misstates the facts.

The election was Nov 3. The first Council meeting was Dec 8. That's 3 months in office, and 4 months since the election.

In Nov, the lame duck Dem council was preoccupied with trying to shove through turf, and the Republicans were focused on dealing with that, plus organizing the new committees. So Nov doesn't count.

Besides, the Dem majority set the stage for the 'fact finder' in late '09, which the new council agreed to in Dec. And neither Dems nor Reps would do anything until the fact-finder reported back.

So the new council cannot be fairly judged yet on their handling of the police situation. The clock for them begins ticking now, following the release of this report.

Anonymous said...

That is aload of crap!!! They have done nothing and have no direction. They did nothing in Nov. and they are doing nothing now. Nov. doesn't, so much for coming in and taking control. Thier first decision, in Dec. was to hire a firm that produced noting and wait for it for over two months. Real Leadership, no Real B/S!

Anonymous said...

hey 231, you can't reason with unreasonable people. he can't refute any of your facts, so he just sprews out cliches. fortunately the voters who threw out his party will be more fair minded in judging the new council.

Anonymous said...

TIMM
TIMMMMMMM
TIMMMMMEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Come on all together now

TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Anonymous said...

hey 1040:
take it to your psychotherapist
or to your AA meeting.
You really need to get a life
AsssssssHooooooole.

Trebor said...

Two thoughts for you to consider before you return to your pointless bickering:
1) Referring to someone as the "town drunk" is defamation of character in any court of law I've ever heard about, even if you wouldn't dare say that unless you took the coward's cover of anonymity.
2) Mike Evans switched to the Democratic Party from the Republican Party.

OK, you can now return to your usual stabbing of your fellow townspeople in the back. Anonymously, of course, because you are such paragons of decency.

Anonymous said...

2:53
"They did nothing in Nov. and they are doing nothing now."

I believe they whipped the dems into submission in November.

Now they need to clean up the mess left behind. Beginning with the CPD mess that was brought up to the TC last year, but was swept under the table by Hall and the rest of the cronies who wanted nothing to do with it.

Not sure if you finished your remidial math yet, but even if you want to include the month after they were elected but before they took office, which is a little ridiculous since the dems were trying to push things through that last month, that only is 4 months-125 days. They had no voting power till Dec. 8, which means they have been in office a total of 90 days.

You continue to sound like a jealous loser. Get over it. Things will be better.

Anonymous said...

No action on the pool or the police things are better? Maybe if the new chair could talk without Schrumm telling him what to say, things could get better.

Anonymous said...

Hey smart guy why don't you run for office and become Chair? Maybe you could be better but you have to wait until 2011. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if you finished your remidial math yet, but even if you want to include the month after they were elected but before they took office, which is a little ridiculous since the dems were trying to push things through that last month, that only is 4 months-125 days. They had no voting power till Dec. 8, which means they have been in office a total of 90 days.

Remidial math??? Need help with
Remedial Writing? Okay Tim-you you were a superstar on television tonight. We all sat with our eyes glued to the television Comedy Central, your best perfomance yet- Bravo, Bravo TIMMMMMMMMMMEYYYYYY!

Anonymous said...

10:06

Hey genius, typos happen.
But how do you explain not being able to figure out how long the present council has been in office? Simple math.

I remember back in grade school when we used to bust on our friends like that. Fortunately, most adults have outgrown that. Maybe when you get out of grammar school you will too.

I guess as a defeated dem you have nothing intelligent to say so you stoop to ridiculous name calling. You must be able to think of something better than that.
How about explaining the dems bid theory again. Wasn't it we put it out to bid until the person we want wins it (Norton Boiler), or we waive the bid process so our friends get the contracts (AJ Waste & Dattco).
Yeah, that's it...explain that Buuudddddyyyyy..

Anonymous said...

Instead of focusing on what the report failed to deliver, read what it does say! Independent people found that there ARE significant, serious problems affecting productivity at all ranks of the CPD. So to further dismiss the issues as "communication problems" or "management style" is oversimplifying doing a great disservice to all involved. Thats what led to this mess in the first place.

ICMA did specify: "lack of a strategic plan", "lack of communicating vision", "lack of a system to evaluate performance benchmarks", even "senior members feel [the dept] is adrift without focus or direction."

I'm no CEO, but it seems to me that ALL of those issues are solely the responsibility of the Chief of Police. The union, nor any of its members I don't think, would be charged with setting direction or vision for the CPD.

It also says that these have been festering for some time. Doesn't the department head report goals and vision to the Town Manager at least annually? I assume the TM evaluates if those objectives have been met each year. Looks like each has failed consistently.

Anonymous said...

The Norton boiler contract was fumbled by town hall, not the TC, not once but twice under the leadership of the town manager = FAIL

"I assume the TM evaluates if those objectives have been met each year. Looks like each has failed consistently." = FAIL

Pool Bubble + Sewer Treatment Plant + CPD + Contracts = Fail

We need a leader...not a manager.

Anonymous said...

"The Norton boiler contract was fumbled by town hall, not the TC, not once but twice under the leadership of the town manager = FAIL ... Pool Bubble + Sewer Treatment Plant + CPD + Contracts = Fail"

Get the facts straight. These contracts and projects were managed by THE TOWN COUNCIL not the town manager. Milone does not have the power to authorize a contract without the council's permission.