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| December 1, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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Right chief at right price
could lift Klimm legacy
pgauvin@barnstablepatriot.com
Town
Manager John Khmm is occu-
pied, one presumes, soliciting input
from town councilors, businesses
and residents on what type of permanent
police chief the town wants and the gamut
of services they expect him to yield from
his department.
The early departure of Chief John
Finnegan last week with 18 months or so
left on his contract and in the wake of the
Fresh Holes Road mess was not unexpect-
ed. It was predicted by Town Councilor
Gary Brown during Veterans Day events,
as was the naming of Lt. Paul MacDonald
as interim chief.
This now gives civilian officials time
to debate whether more political input
and transparency is desirable in the PD
and how best to achieve that, via a "weak
chief" model bereft of Civil Service pro-
tection and/or significant oversight by a
civilian town manager, mayor or police
commission.
It's also an opportune moment to debate
whether recent steps to curtail the liber-
ties of businessmen by imposing curfews
and aborting marketing techniques such
as Thursday Night events on Main Street
benefit the police more than the public.
Some things to consider while pondering
a permanent chief:
Item 1: Don't play Santa with public mon-
ey and pay a stranger a decadent salary
bordering on fiscal malfeasance. This isn't
Los Angeles. Also, do not ask an interim
chief to overstay his contract.
Item 2: Don't hire a "CEO" who will spend
time circulating resumes for work else-
where and take five consecutive weeks'
vacation for a trip south. Choose one who
can handle winter weather and likes it here
enough to absorb what citizens want by
way of police services.
item: 3: Don't hire a police chief addicted
to golf. It can lead to the appearance that
he's goofing off.
Item 4: Don't hire a police chief just to
silence police union spokesmen by caving
in to them. This becomes a case of the tail
wagging the dog.
item 5: Don't let an interim town man-
ager hire an interim police chief ever again
because they both know the buck is going
to stop somewhere else.
Item 6: Don't hire a chief "overqualified"
on paper who doesn't know to assign more
men in high crime neighborhoods without
being told to do so by councilors with a
high school diploma.
Item 7: Do hire a police chief who will
personally show up when the immigrant
community needs to talk to the top cops.
Item 8: Do hire a police chief who can take
a hint and be there when an elected repre-
sentative of the people finds it necessary to
personally investigate how the police are
handling high-crime neighborhoods.
Item 9: Do hire a police chief who will
consider replacing the community police
academy with an auxiliary police program
whose members can fill gaps on the street
when needed - particularly in view of in-
creasing homeland security issues.
Item 10: Do hire a police chief who will
consider reactivating the traditional sum-
mer police force to help keep the peace
while training future policemen, particu-
larly downtown where new condos and
apartments - therefore the population - are
on the rise.
item 11:Do hire a police chief who will
replace a full-time police officer coordinat-
ing extra details with a civilian clerk at less
salary and put the police back where they
are needed - on the street.
Item 12: Do water down the "strong chief"
model and disconnect him (or her) from
Civil Service to allow transparent civil-
ian oversight - a mayor, manager or police
commission - and leave the door open to
cooperative political solutions to problems
when appropriate.
Item 13: Do hire a chief who is personally
open and candid in sharing information
with the public about department opera-
tions, budget and policy.
Item 14: Do hire a chief who cottons to
Town Councilor Harold Tobey's call for
a "pro-active " department in high crime
areas.
Item 15: Do hire a chief who knows the
difference between bogus community po-
licing and the real McCoy.
Klimm is getting kudos from Tobey for
the way he "arranged" for the chief's sud-
den departure and sparing embarrassment
all the way around. After all, it was Klimm,
according to news accounts and evidently
with the council's tacit approval , who
asked Finnegan to remain when his con-
tract ended.
Onward and forward.
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When the early bird is
the worm
B
lack Friday started out OK, as a
term traced to about 1975 to charac-
terize the stress that accompanied
the shopping season, especially on the
big day after Thanksgiving. Good. Fine.
Perfect.
But more recently, it is being co-opted
as a positive for its effect on the ledger
sheets of retailers. It's recognized as the
time for profits to be had, pulling company
books out of the red and a barometer of the
spending season to come.
Now a seemingly unrelated story...
When I was in college , a parking permit
from the school was as good as gold. For
those with vehicles darkening driveways at
home, the ability to darken striped pave-
ment in school parking lots was internally-
combustible freedom.
Spring and fall weren 't problems for the
permits. The streets of North Adams pro-
vided plentiful parking bounty. It's when
the first snow fell that problems began. The
city maintained a parking ban throughout
the winter and wasn't shy about ticketing
or towing.
On-campus housing provided various al-
lotments of parking permits. Once distrib-
uted to all qualifying students , there were
precious few remaining, and these were
handed out on a first-come/first-serv e basis
on a pre-set day beginning at 9 a.m.
My permitless roommates and I showed
up at 4 a.m. The first non-roommate joined
the back of our four-man line around 7 a.m.
There were something like nine stickers
that semester, and we all got one.
We were proud and parking for half a
year. The next semester, we were a little
more cavalier. We knew the secret and our
parking perfection would be in a state of
uninterrupted bliss. As those sitting on the
verge of an economic bubble have disas-
trously said time and again, the prosperity
would last forever.
As we arrived at an inadvisable 5 a.m.,
our Oct. 29, 1929 was upon us. Instead of
an empty hallway, there were a dozen or so
students with pillows, blankets and places
secured in a line that wasn't supposed to
be there. We turned on one another, friend
boxing out friend on the unlikely chance
that the permits would last long enough to
reach our lowly and distant position.
We knew immediately what had hap-
pened. Word had spread in the months
since our initial stroke of brilliance , and the
4 a.m. bar we set became the time to beat.
Midnight. I believe , was the new early. Our
5 a.m. appearance was so pitifully late that
none of us walked away with a permit for
that semester.
We've all watched a similar cultural time
creep for Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiv-
ing "official " start of the holiday shopping
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:12
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By Stew Goodwin
columnist@barnstablepatnol.com
It s getting to be that time ot year. Lists
of requests are being compiled so that they
can be mailed to Santa. I'm putting mine
together, and would like to run it by you.
1. Santa, I'm concerned
that after the elections our
vice-president might not
have enough to do. Do you
think you help find him
something to do? History
offers a suggestion.
The vice-president in the
Van Buren Administration ,
which wasin office from 1836
to 1840, was a frontiersman
and a soldier from Kentucky named Rich-
ard M. Johnson. Instead of presiding over
the Senate or meddling in policy decisions ,
Johnson decided on a more meaningful oc-
cupation. He moved in with hismistresswho
lived above a tavern she owned. Johnson
spent his vice-presidential years fathering
two daughters and running the tavern.
I'm not suggesting that our vice-presi-
dent move in with a mistress, but running
a tavern would be a fine job. Could you put
in a good word for him, Santa?
2. You could also do something for the
Democratic Congressional leadership who
seem unable to forgo feuding, finger point-
ing, and name-calling. Could you arrange
for a temporary suspension of the laws
banning duelling?
3. Santa, I think that you might help me
save this country some real money. There
may be as much as $100
billion that is really being
wasted.
A close inspection of the
budget reveals two lineitems
with provocative descrip-
tions. There is $22 billion
denoted as lost. That'sright,
Santa, vanished into thin air,
not even spent on pork bar-
rel earmarks. Another $38
billion has been paid to the wrong people
and is listed as not recoverable. Yes, Santa,
you heard me correctly, not recoverable. I'll
bet you can get it back.
Then there'sthe $40 billion or sowe spend
on the CIA (the exact amount issecret). Well,
the CIA now says that there is no evidence
of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. This
conclusion is being disparaged by the same
people who disregarded the no WMDs in
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:12
A list For Santa
LETTERS
A sad comment on
councilors
In their megalomania to quell
public comment or free speech, some
Town Councilors wants to rewrite
the First Amendment, which is as
follows:
"Congress shall make no law
regarding an establishment of reli-
gion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech , or of the press or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the government for
a redress of grievances."
Imagine rewriting Tom Jefferson ,
et al? And you don't even have to get
permission from 50 states.
As Federal laws are no hurdle for
Olde Towne legislators , why not
abuse portions of the local Char-
ter? Public comment is mandated
by Charter: "Regular meetings of
the town council shall provide for a
period of public comment...." Give
the word "regular" a sophisticate
spin and you've got a no-holds-
barred law.
Worried about Massachusetts
Open Meeting laws? Don't be.
Council has a remedy: have e-mail
meetings that you don't announce
24 hours beforehand. Council feels
that just sending the Town Clerk
e-mail copies satisfies the open
meeting laws!
Don't forget to charge people with
vague subversions. Don't even men-
tion their names. Remember Joe Mc-
Carthy and the House Un-American
Activities Committee.
When you haven't identified those
miscreants , administer to them
polonium-210. After all, if it's good
enough to off Russian whistleblow-
ers, it's good enough for American
Thoreaus.
It'sonly agame, said one Councilor,
who likesto dress up asCatherine the
Great, Queen Victoria or Margaret
Thatcher.
Peter Doiron
Barnstable Village
Don't subject rights to a
vote
I ask proponents of the constitu-
tional amendment to ban gay mar-
riage this question: why isn't the
same amount of effort and emotion
being used to make the income tax
roll back areality?That issomething
that affects a vast majority of com-
monwealth citizens and was already
voted on by the populace but still
has not happened.
I did not vote for the rollback ,
but I certainly uphold the majority's
right to have their voice heard on
this issue. However I do not uphold
the majority's right to have their
voice heard on what two consent-
ing adults ' legal property and other
marital rights are.
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:12
TQ%CORNER
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jy t_j_ mtmummmmm By Paul Gauwin