Leadership - The Art Of Doing More With Less
PLUGGING HOLES AND DRIVING THE BOAT
Recently, in the wake of many critical comments about the departure of Costa Mesa police officers due to earlier-than-planned retirements and lateral moves to other law enforcement jurisdictions, members of the City Council directed CEO Tom Hatch to work with Police Chief Tom Gazsi to come up with "a plan". At the time I thought it was akin to directing them to paddle harder while certain members of the council drilled more holes in the bottom of the boat.
LEADERSHIP
Last week, in response to what is becoming a very critical situation, Gazsi took steps to plug some of those holes - at least temporarily - while he attempts to keep the CMPD on an even keel and headed in the right direction. He wrote the following letter to the men and women of the CMPD outlining these steps. His plan, to retain the leadership and expertise of four retiring officers, will help bridge the gap during the next few months as more new officers join the CMPD and others are prepared for promotion.
Each page of the following letter is an image. Click on each to enlarge for easier reading.
HANDS TIED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR
As you can see, this is just one more step to try to rebuild the department after being forbidden to do any recruitment for more than a year. And, even if Gazsi is successful in staying ahead of the curve on recruitment, the current authorized staff level remains more than 15% below the peak level of just a few years ago and is still below the level recommended by other experienced law enforcement leaders to keep our city safe.
THANKS...
Kudos to Chief Gazsi and to the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department for their dedication to our city at a time when the majority of the elected "leadership" clearly has a demonstrable bias against them. We will soon see this playing out as the hired gun negotiators attempt to disembowel the current labor agreements as negotiations begin on the contract that expires in a couple months.
MORE LEAVING
Meanwhile, in response to the toxic environment created by the current council majority, more officers plan to retire this year and at least two more officers will soon depart for other venues to continue their career in law enforcement. You can thank Mayor Jim Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, specifically, for this condition. And go-along-to-get-along Councilman Gary Monahan shares some responsibility, too.
LEADERSHIP
Last week, in response to what is becoming a very critical situation, Gazsi took steps to plug some of those holes - at least temporarily - while he attempts to keep the CMPD on an even keel and headed in the right direction. He wrote the following letter to the men and women of the CMPD outlining these steps. His plan, to retain the leadership and expertise of four retiring officers, will help bridge the gap during the next few months as more new officers join the CMPD and others are prepared for promotion.Each page of the following letter is an image. Click on each to enlarge for easier reading.
HANDS TIED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR
As you can see, this is just one more step to try to rebuild the department after being forbidden to do any recruitment for more than a year. And, even if Gazsi is successful in staying ahead of the curve on recruitment, the current authorized staff level remains more than 15% below the peak level of just a few years ago and is still below the level recommended by other experienced law enforcement leaders to keep our city safe.THANKS...
Kudos to Chief Gazsi and to the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department for their dedication to our city at a time when the majority of the elected "leadership" clearly has a demonstrable bias against them. We will soon see this playing out as the hired gun negotiators attempt to disembowel the current labor agreements as negotiations begin on the contract that expires in a couple months.MORE LEAVING
Meanwhile, in response to the toxic environment created by the current council majority, more officers plan to retire this year and at least two more officers will soon depart for other venues to continue their career in law enforcement. You can thank Mayor Jim Righeimer and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger, specifically, for this condition. And go-along-to-get-along Councilman Gary Monahan shares some responsibility, too.Labels: CMPD, Gary Monahan, Jim Righeimer, Steve Mensinger, Tom Gazsi, Tom Hatch
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 4/15/2014 12:06:00 PM
1 Comments:
At the Council meeting two weeks ago, I commended the CMPD for serving us Costa Mesans "above and beyond." Tonight, Tuesday, I plan to address the council in commendation of the CMFD. The focus of my Powerpoint slide show will be Jimmy Owen, a firefighter, who logged some serious overtime in his 30 years' career. Jimmy collapsed while on the job at age 56 and died of cardiac arrest. His chief said at the funeral that Jimmy was just days away from official retirement. I pray that our police officers and our firefighters get relief from all the overtime service being asked of them.
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