Mayor Pat Kelly, for the second board of aldermen meeting in a row, tried to appoint Interim Brentwood Police Chief Dan Fitzgerald as chief. The appointment requires a majority of the aldermen, which failed 5-3 at the April 7 meeting.
Monday the aldermen tied 4-4, and though Kelly broke the tie in his favor, there was a question if the mayor’s tie-breaker is allowed.
Alderman Andy Leahy said that under state statute and the Brentwood municipal code a position that requires the mayor’s appointment and approval of the aldermen, requires a 5-member majority vote of the aldermen.
Kelly cast his vote and said if there is a problem they would take it up at the next meeting.
Aldermen Anthony Harper, Lee Wynn, Keith Robertson and Cindy Manestar voted yes.
Aldermen Tom Kramer, Patrick Toohey, Andy Leahy, and Maureen Saunders voted no.
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Robertson changed his vote from no to yes in the two weeks. He was the only alderman to talk with Kelly about the appointment in the interim.
“After talking with the mayor, and thinking about it, I’d like to recommend approval of the recommendation of the mayor. I think it will be good for the city, and I don’t see why we need to go through a long and expensive process,” Robertson said.
Kelly said it “wouldn’t be fair to solicit other people, have them interview for a job where I already feel we have the candidate who deserves the opportunity to try to lead our police department, and would still be my selection at the end of that process,” he said.
Kramer said he thought that an interview selection process is the correct way to get a recommendation, especially for such a key role in the city.
“We’ve got a pretty good amount of admonition from our state auditor that it’s a good idea whenever possible to follow processes,” Kramer said. “If in fact it leads back to the same result hoped for, no harm no foul.”
Toohey agreed that it would be best for a group of professional police officers to make the recommendation. “We don’t know what makes a great police officer, that’s why we let the professionals do that,” he said.
Leahy said he had heard that when Steve Disbennett was chosen as chief, that Kelly had promised that any Brentwood police officer that applied for the position would automatically make it to the final round, which is how Disbennett and Fitzgerald were both finalists. “Did I misunderstand the process?”
Kelly said Leahy did misunderstand. “Dan was not one of the top three. Out of the 60 plus applicants he was number 12,” Kelly said.
Leahy asked if Fitzgerald were appointed chief, who would be the assistant. He said he wanted to know for the sake of transparency.
Kelly said he didn’t want Fitzgerald’s appointment to hinge on the assistant chief, but that he would recommend Detective Sergeant Jim McIntyre as assistant chief. The position is an appointment by the chief.
Oh, and I LOVE this quote! “Toohey agreed that it would be best for a group of professional police officers to make the recommendation.” Maybe we should let PROFESSIONAL ALDERMEN pick our aldermen. And Mr. Completely, during the last election, Mr. Kelly won the election with the majority of the voters on his side. If ‘certain people’ are sick of him, they should run for Mayor and get him voted out instead of making making snide comments. Stand up with him, at a public forum and discuss your objections wit his policies.
Ok Steve. I accept your challenge. I’ll be running in the next election for mayor. Can I count on your support?
Based on your platform and past job skills in some sort of management and maybe some business skills. We need someone who knows about business practices. If you have definite VISION and goal where-with-alls to achieve that vision, I’ll vote for you. Pat’s visions and ways to achieve his goals are much to vague for me. Just don’t be too vague. Good for you!
And, if you want MY vote, quit using words like ‘turd’. Speak like you would, if you were already in office. Act like you would, if you were in office. Those are the kinds of things that I notice when I look for a leader.
Steve, please keep your prudish lifestyle choice to yourself.
Congraulations Chief Fizgerald (Dan) on an appointment that is well deserved. Thank you for your many years of service.
It isn’t a popularity contest. Dan may very well be the best choice for Chief, but, they should go through the interview process. Pat Kelly does not have the professional expertise to know if Dan Fitzgerald has all that is needed for the position. Let the professionals in that line of work, assist in the interview process. All Pat really knows is that Dan is a friend. I’m not saying Dan would not be the right choice, but our city officials owe it to the citizens to conduct the hiring of our police chief in a professional and ethical way. After all, what if our former assistant fire chief had automatically been appointed to chief, like Pat had wanted to do? Something to think about!
It’s not about Fitzgerald. Brentwood just keeps polishing the same turd with the current mayor and certain people are sick of him and suspect of anything he wants to do. Time for a change in Brentwood.
I don’t understand why anyone would NOT vote for Dan. He has proven that he strives to learn techniques in the field of law enforcement. He is not physically unfit like so many other people we see in public service. He has always been gracious and pleasant with us, whether on a police call or monitoring an event. He smiles and waves at Brentwood citizens. He was a good example for the kids in Brentwood as ‘DARE’ Dan. I can’t think of a better choice. I think that if the Alderpersons would talk to their constituents, the Alderpersons would who voted AGAINST Dan, would discover that they were voting against the wants of their constituents.
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