As of today a few of Fayetteville's highest municipal posts are filled by interim leaders who have been a part of our City's upper management for a good little while. They know quite a bit about the happenings, dynamics and underlying issues causing concern to the citizens of Fayetteville and its leadership. They each served under the tutelage of their former bosses for a few good years and surely handle themselves according to what they have learned. Assistant City Manager Kristoff Bauer is currently filling the role of Interim City Manager after the dismissal of Fayetteville head honcho Dale Iman, and former assistant Chief Katherine Bryant is filling the role of Police Chief since Tom Bergamine served his last day on the patrol this month. Both of these vacant posts were reportedly created in large part as a result of a DWB controversy that arose in Fayetteville. Racial profiling by the PD was alleged statistically, investigated thoroughly and while not necessarily proven, it was the talk of the town, the talk of our police and its supporters and even the talk of state judicial proceedings for quite some time.
All this talk led to a focused microscope being put on the actions of our City Council and Mayor, who alone serve as our city's body of elected representatives. The Mayor and City Council are responsible for hiring and firing only two people in the entire city staff of hundreds: City Manager and City Attorney. (it is my understanding that our City Attorney Karen McDonald is in good standing with the City Council and not at risk of turnover) As you might surmise, the responsibility to hire and fire those two people is taken very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it is commonplace to hire a consulting/expert firm for tens of thousands of dollars to solicit applicants, review credentials and make recommendations to the Council. The city will first hire a City Manager, and then leave the decision of hiring a Police Chief up to the City Manager. I can assure you that any candidate for City Manager will be very closely interrogated about how, why and under what circumstances they would prefer to go about hiring a police chief and managing them. After all, its in large part what got us into this predicament in the first place, and surely our elected officials are learning from the past.
The question I pose to you is this: Of the two "Interims" that we currently have in the positions of City Manager and Police Chief, which of them will be given the title permanently? Do both of them even want the job? And 6 months down the road (or 17 months), how do you think the citizens of Fayetteville will feel looking back on this whole conundrum?
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
March: MAN-Up TAR HEELS
Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller have driven the TarHeels offensively all year long with rotating help from Barnes, Bullock and Henson. With Marshalls' injury we have a million things to make up for, the least of which is dribbling. Passing and controlling the game are KMarsh's two weapons and lately he's been pouring on the touch around the basket and turning into a double-double machine. If it weren't for him feeling like he needed to score we may not be down another guard....injuries are tough. Also remember, we become a BETTER defensive team when Marshall is off the court some might argue during the regular season, and especially when he is nursing a screw and a fracture.
Barnes will have to be willing to control and distribute the ball. Likewise for Bullock, Hairston and namely Stillman White. The fact that in 2012 we've got a Mormon PG at the helm late in March and a 9 figure Mormon leading the GOP primary race is quite the parallel in our news media. The primary difference is that Stillman will definitely not be with us next year as he embarks on his Mission, but hopefully Romney will be quite the stately figure in the news most every day as the leader of the free world. Remember the folks in China and Russia aren't really free, are they? So they don't count.
I digress....if you think Stillman White is the only savior for UNC Basketball, think again. We've got to have all 6 other guys in the rotation step up their game 10-15% and we can play with any squad in the country. That's the beauty of being the best basketball program in the country. Don't argue. This message is directed primarily at you HB, because you need to step yours up 25-35% if we are going to have a chance at Roy's third bling, I mean ring. Hubert to Watts for the alley-ooooppp!! would also be a good combo. Add irony to injury, and we are potentially meeting Roys' old JayHawks on Sunday and there's not enough Cortisone in the country to ease the tension there.
Tar Heel fans unite, WIN one game at a time!
Go Heels Go America.com
Hey Dickie V....RETIRE, BABYY!!!!
Barnes will have to be willing to control and distribute the ball. Likewise for Bullock, Hairston and namely Stillman White. The fact that in 2012 we've got a Mormon PG at the helm late in March and a 9 figure Mormon leading the GOP primary race is quite the parallel in our news media. The primary difference is that Stillman will definitely not be with us next year as he embarks on his Mission, but hopefully Romney will be quite the stately figure in the news most every day as the leader of the free world. Remember the folks in China and Russia aren't really free, are they? So they don't count.
I digress....if you think Stillman White is the only savior for UNC Basketball, think again. We've got to have all 6 other guys in the rotation step up their game 10-15% and we can play with any squad in the country. That's the beauty of being the best basketball program in the country. Don't argue. This message is directed primarily at you HB, because you need to step yours up 25-35% if we are going to have a chance at Roy's third bling, I mean ring. Hubert to Watts for the alley-ooooppp!! would also be a good combo. Add irony to injury, and we are potentially meeting Roys' old JayHawks on Sunday and there's not enough Cortisone in the country to ease the tension there.
Tar Heel fans unite, WIN one game at a time!
Go Heels Go America.com
Hey Dickie V....RETIRE, BABYY!!!!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Fayetteville PD and DWB
Fayetteville Police Department and the coined issue of "Driving While Black" have been hot on the wire as of late after a four month moratorium on -Consent Searches- was implemented by the Fayetteville City Council. The root of the issue and cause of racism accusations being thrown at the FPD is the statistics that show an overwhelming percentage of Consent Searches are being performed on African Americans. Fayetteville's Police Chief, who is a 30+ year veteran of the department, has tendered his resignation in convenient timing for the playing out of the debacle- which speaks volumes on its own.
The moratorium and its details, which were authored by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Arp, have seen ample opposition since being enacted- the Police Benevolent Association has pushed the envelope on behalf of the popo for all legal action. NC State Attorney General recently chimed in on the topic by sending the FPD an opinionated letter. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives has been hired by the City Council to investigate the practices and policies of our local police amidst accusations of profiling and improper search methods in coordination with the moratorium.
State and Federal constitutions uphold the legality of Consent Searches and many will argue that limiting the tools of police is not in the realm of municipal authority. You will certainly find plenty of folks that will argue both sides.
Voting Against the Moratorium were: City Council Members Val Applewhite & Keith Bates
Voting for the Moratorium were: Mayor + 7 council members
At the end of the day, I just want Fayetteville, NC to be safer than it was yesterday. We ask the Police Department to accomplish that goal every single day, even when the cards are stacked against them, and I wish our entire community would support them doing so fairly and constitutionally. This has been a public service announcement to help you stay reasonably informed.
The moratorium and its details, which were authored by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Arp, have seen ample opposition since being enacted- the Police Benevolent Association has pushed the envelope on behalf of the popo for all legal action. NC State Attorney General recently chimed in on the topic by sending the FPD an opinionated letter. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives has been hired by the City Council to investigate the practices and policies of our local police amidst accusations of profiling and improper search methods in coordination with the moratorium.
State and Federal constitutions uphold the legality of Consent Searches and many will argue that limiting the tools of police is not in the realm of municipal authority. You will certainly find plenty of folks that will argue both sides.
con·sent
[kuhn-sent] Show IPAverb (used without object)
1.
to permit, approve, or agree; comply or yield (oftenfollowed by to or an infinitive): He consented to the proposal.We asked her permission, and she consented.
To clarify, I am personally against the moratorium- and I think the issues and controversy at hand could have been handled differently for optimal results. I don't know all of the private details, and am very anxious to hear the findings of NOBLE. Any way you cut it, there is no easy way around, or through the issue and obvious controversies surrounding police enforcement along racial lines and the supposedly unfair and manufactured disparities.
Voting Against the Moratorium were: City Council Members Val Applewhite & Keith Bates
Voting for the Moratorium were: Mayor + 7 council members
At the end of the day, I just want Fayetteville, NC to be safer than it was yesterday. We ask the Police Department to accomplish that goal every single day, even when the cards are stacked against them, and I wish our entire community would support them doing so fairly and constitutionally. This has been a public service announcement to help you stay reasonably informed.
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