City Council gets rare second chance to get it right on Police Chief
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
COATESVILLE — Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.
At this point, I don’t think anyone can call the chaos that has been the hiring process for Coatesville’s new police chief good, or even passable. But a little like the quarterback who played three lousy quarters but has the chance to redeem himself with a brilliant fourth quarter, the city and City Council has a chance to manage a more than satisfactory ending.
I was privileged to sit in on the interview of the new candidate for police chief, Wednesday. By agreement, I can’t tell you who he is, or his specific background. What I can say it this: if Maj. Jack Laufer was a solid triple in the gap (yeah, another sports analogy), this guy is as Harry Kalas used to say “Outta here.” A monster home run.
Let’s put it this way: this is the right guy, with the right background at the right time. If anyone can right this police department, this is the guy.
One would hope that City Council realizes how lucky they’ve been — after botching the process to date — hires this guy and lets him do the job he needs to do.
Frankly, with the long list of issue that the city faces — some caused by failures of local elected officials, some caused by circumstance every small city in the commonwealth faces — City Council should count their blessings to have this issue off their plate and allow them to move onto other issues, such as stabilizing the city finances, not to mention plotting a realistic path to growth and rebirth for the city.
The early indications are good; I think a majority of City Council gets that this is the guy, and this is the time.
This is a chance for them to redeem themselves in the eyes of an increasingly angry public. I’ll note for the record that a majority of the council is up for reelection in 2013 and how this plays out may well have a large impact on how those elections go.
Politics aside, it seems from here that the city’s renewal starts with the police department. Rife with morale problems, racial strife, litigation, charges of corruption or improper conduct and worst of all, not enough bodies to do the job in the opinion of a lot of local law enforcement officials, it won’t be easy. But it can be done.
When people feel safe, it’s a lot easier to be optimistic. Optimism leads to new businesses, new jobs, new growth and new investment. Those things improve the tax base and ease the financial woes the city faces. As that cycle repeats, we could see the restoration of Coatesville as the jewel of Chester County it once was.
As a small businessman, I know there’s a lot going for the city in terms of location, parking access and highway access as compared to West Chester. It wouldn’t take much to position the city as the “smart” choice for businesses in the county to relocate — less expensive, easier for customers, and more centrally located in the county.
But if people don’t feel safe, it won’t happen.
I’m hoping some years in the future, when Coatesville has blossomed and has become a source of real pride for the community, people will point to these days as the turning point, the time when the rebirth of the city really started to gain traction.
In the coming days, the City Council has the chance to make that happen. Let’s hope — no, let’s pray — that they see the wisdom to make the smart choice here.
