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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

City In Search for New Police Chief, Mayor Will Hold—You Guessed It—a Cavalcade of Town Halls!

Posted by on Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 6:49 AM

We supported the mayor with gusto, and despite some howls of criticism that he's botched this or that, he's only been in office for 39 days. Judging his performance as mayor after this blip of time would be absurd. That said, Jesus hominy in my pozole this man holds a lot of town halls. Town halls to discuss the campaign, town halls to talk about transition, town halls to consider youth and families, and now public hearings to discuss the police chief. I'm beginning to wonder if he can get dressed for work without vetting his wardrobe in a community center.

To gather input for the police chief search, McGinn and the search committee are holding three town halls—granted, the search for a police chief should be done with the utmost transparency—this month. They are: Wednesday, February 10 at the Northgate Community Center; Wednesday, February 17 at Franklin High School; and Friday, February 26, at New Holly Gathering Center. They all begin at 5:30 p.m.

 

Comments (15) RSS

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gloomy gus 1
Another fine opportunity to employ the kindly phrase "I'm not judging, I'm just saying".
Posted by gloomy gus on February 9, 2010 at 7:04 AM
2
just sayin' ....
i don't see you criticizing his upcoming debut in Questionland.
i wonder about the extent to which your surprise and thinly veiled cynicism is due to the status quo of "representation" in amerikkka. while mcginn's method is imperfect, all are; how else can he get people in and feeling part of civic space, sharing voices with one another and their government?
McGinn is to be applauded for trying in earnest to engage we, the people.
Posted by gwhayduke on February 9, 2010 at 7:13 AM
Elizabeth I (or Liz Tudor) 3
I like the idea of town halls but sadly one of two things will happen: either he will constantly hold them and people will stop going after awhile or he will stop holding them after a few months in office.

Again I like them but moderation is probably in order.
Posted by Elizabeth I (or Liz Tudor) on February 9, 2010 at 7:31 AM
roddy 4
I hope the mayor isn't mistaking the feedback that he gets from these "Town Halls" for a representative sample of the community at large. Community feedback is all fine and good, but in my experience these forums often degenerate into crankfests, where borderline personalities hold forth on there own personal brand of crazy. Then again, I suppose that's his base.

The new chief will already be hamstrung by the courts and the guild, so we can expect too much from a person in that position anyway. What rational chief candidate would subject themselves to this kind of process as well?
Posted by roddy http://www.washingtonunited.org on February 9, 2010 at 7:54 AM
Dominic Holden 5
@ 2) Touché on Questionland. But you lose a point for writing "amerikkka."
Posted by Dominic Holden on February 9, 2010 at 8:07 AM
giffy 6
We supported the mayor with gusto

You did more than that. The Stranger has always been pretty editorialized, but after the completely over the top shilling for McGinn your credibility is basically gone. Thankfully sites like Publicola have stepped up to cover the things that your apparently unwilling to.
Posted by giffy on February 9, 2010 at 8:42 AM
Will in Seattle 7
I wonder how many suburbanites who can't vote in Seattle will show up at these public meetings?
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on February 9, 2010 at 8:45 AM
josh 8
I think it's cute that it took you think long to notice.

At least he isn't proposing to put this decision on the ballot.
Posted by josh http://www.sciencevsromance.net on February 9, 2010 at 8:49 AM
Joe M 9
Why can't he just ideate something with the stakeholders and then move forward? That's what Mallahan would have done.
Posted by Joe M on February 9, 2010 at 9:06 AM
Will in Seattle 10
@9 ftw
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on February 9, 2010 at 9:09 AM
11
I think Roddy and Roger are still sad that Joey M did not win. Too bad. So sad.
Posted by Not Vlad on February 9, 2010 at 9:18 AM
kk in seattle 12
@ Roddy: you forgot that the new chief will also be overseen by the various citizen oversight panels that the Stranger has chamioned all these years. Because it's not enough to have executive, judicial and legislative branches (including the initiative and referendum powers), freedomw of assembly, freedom of press and the right to petition the government. No, individual citizens actually have to serve as a further set of checks and balances on our city government, lest it become too effective.
Posted by kk in seattle on February 9, 2010 at 12:17 PM
michaelp 13
I think it can now be said - Mayor McGinn is Tim Eyman. He seems to believe in governing through the ballot and town halls, true governing of the people, which always works so well.
Posted by michaelp on February 9, 2010 at 12:23 PM
michaelp 14
Shit...and I meant "by the people". *meh*, point is made.
Posted by michaelp on February 9, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Fnarf 15
I'm with Roddy. Town Halls are for cranks. If McGinn gets all his ideas there, we're going to end up with the city providing free dog sweaters to everyone or something.
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on February 9, 2010 at 12:55 PM

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