A Fresh New Direction

At tonight's City Council meeting Council member Larry Glass described the proposed community oriented police plan as part of a "fresh, new direction." Acting police chief Garr Nielsen described the program as, essentially, a shift of a few personnel to slightly different duties, performed at a new yet-to-be-named location. Also, he wants the city to authorize the hiring of a new full-time employee to act as a public liaison and public information officer. Nielsen says offing a couple of employees--I mean, eliminating their positions--will free up funding for this new person, who will perform duties duplicative of those performed by current employees.

Council member Glass--again, not the same actual person as Garr--asked the acting chief and other city officials how this plan could be expedited, seeming especially interested in the hiring of this new, full-time employee. It's as if Larry and Garr already have someone in mind for the plum job. What are the odds of that?

Kudos are due to Mayor Bass for asking Garr exactly why a costly new full-time position is needed, noting that the same duties are performed by current employees.. Garr fidgeted like a 7th-grader called to the principal's office when trying to justify the position.

In sum, once the new position--designed to perform duties previously assigned to existing employees--is discounted, the plan amounts to shifting the responsibility and physical location of a few employees who will make their own way to reduce crime in certain areas. A fresh, new direction? Actually, it should be giving Larry and Garr a not-so-fresh feeling.

Racer X Down For the Count

Talk about your fortuitous timing. Racer X makes himself scarce around town for a few days, making the streets of Eureka a bit safer, and we learn he was a DNF in some event in the Bay area (Ask a NASCAR fan about DNF). I guess Racer X will be walking for a while. That's probably safest for all concerned.