I was extremely disappointed to read that City Manager Jim Pennington did not follow through on his original plan to “utilize a panel of five to seven people representing a cross-section of the community to have a direct input into the hire” of a new police chief.
Instead of picking a panel of citizens with an operational background in the military or law enforcement who could accurately assess the leadership traits necessary to revive the police department, he reverted back to a system of having bureaucratic managers (most of whom are current city staffers) make up the first panel and a second panel of four people, including only one person with law enforcement experience who is not even a PTC citizen, the city attorney, and two other citizens who appear to have little experience in occupations that would be conducive to evaluating police candidates.
So my fear is that the city may once again wind up with someone who might look like a good manager on paper, but who would fail in the critical area of leadership as the previous two chiefs have done.
The department has already lost numerous highly qualified officers in recent months and the wrong selection will only increase the exodus. If I were on City Council, I think I might ask to at least see the list of the other 123 candidates to feel comfortable that the best candidates are really the ones they will vote on.
James V. Kelso III
Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.)
Peachtree City, Ga.
