The following is a Guest View of Oro Valley resident Diane Peters:
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"During the June 19th Oro Valley Town Council meeting, a heated discussion ensued on the merits of having the Chief of Police report to the Town Manager vs. the current reporting structure in which he reports to the Town Council.
Councilmembers Zinkin, Garner, and Burns all agreed that, for the sake of efficiency and the fact that council members do not have the expertise to oversee a police department, the best option was to have the Chief report to Town Manager, Greg Caton. They expressed their trust and confidence in Mr. Caton’s leadership abilities.
Mayor Hiremath and Councilmembers Hornat, Waters, and Snider disagreed and argued for maintaining the current reporting structure. Then, surprisingly, in Snider’s attempt to explain her decision, she inadvertently sided with the minority when she said:
“This council, we hire professionals. We hire people who have skills. We hire department heads who know what they’re doing. We hire department directors who know what they’re doing. One of the most critical positions in a community is the Chief of Police and the Town Manager. We have very capable individuals in there in both those positions. The professionalism and the expertise and knowledge that it takes to run a police department, we (Town Council) don’t have and we hire a guy that knows what he’s doing…I have the utmost confidence in the partnership between the Chief of Police and the Town Manager.”Her long-winded narration revealed that she actually agreed with Councilmembers Zinkin, Garner, and Burns. I wonder at what point during her argument she realized that she had just uttered the longest Freudian slip in history!"
Diane Peters
Oro Valley Resident
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2 comments:
Diane,
Thank you for this Guest View!
Interestingly, Snider isn't the only hypocrite in this matter. Zachary Young, Vice-Pres. of the OV Police Officers Assoc., also spoke with forked-tongue.
He implied that the council was not police experts "yet they try to micromanage the police dept." He later said, "Greg Caton is an excellent Town Manager and he doesn't try to micromanage every department within the Town."
Since Young doesn't like micromanagement, then isn't this an endorsement for having the Chief of Police report to Greg Caton?
Young also said, "As the Town Manager, he assures that Town Council goals and policies are met."
Sounds like another endorsement for having the Chief report to Greg Caton. The Council will set goals and polices and Caton will assure that they're met.
Now why doesn't Hiremath call Snider and Young "hypocrites" in a public forum, you know, the way he did to Councilmember Brendan Burns?
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