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EDITORIAL: Thoughts about the 'investigation' |
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Monday, 21 April 2008 |
The investigation is over but the dissent certainly isn’t — the name-calling, the allegations, the open resentment. As one chapter ends, another begins.
Bryant city officials want the ugly issues involving Fire Chief Randy Cox and his department laid to rest. They said as much last week when they pronounced the city’s investigation into Cox and his department closed and, to no one’s great surprise, exonerated the embattled fire chief.
We, and others, have gleaned numerous thoughts from this ordeal. We’re reluctant to say we’ve drawn conclusions because we’re not convinced that the issue is going to go away anytime soon; there’s entirely too much ill will lingering. But, here are some thoughts:
•The city was not entirely serious about this investigation. Otherwise, it would have enlisted the services of an outside agency, such as the Arkansas State Police, to conduct the probe rather than handling everything in-house. The city could not ignore the issue because firefighters were relentless with their allegations and accusations about Cox and his behavior as fire chief. The city also had to take notice because the allegations and accusations are far more serious than normal complaints.
•Because the city conducted the investigation — we are told that it consisted largely of interviews and some fact-checking — it left the impression that the probe was in large part an attempt to appease firefighters. There’s no question that some city officials felt that if the city conducted an investigation, that alone might be enough to satisfy the complainants and show them that their voices were being heard. City officials may have underestimated the tenacity of firefighters, who now feel banded together in brotherhood since the formation not long ago of the local firefighters union.
•The city further failed to strengthen the perception that it was conducting a serious investigation by permitting the City Council to become custodian of the records pertaining to the probe. We continue to wonder in mild amazement why some aldermen confuse their roles as legislators with that of administrators. Making the City Council the keeper of the files is clearly an administrative gesture, regardless of what type of attorney general’s ruling the city received that permitted such action. This relates, of course, to the earlier point that had the city been serious about an investigation, it would have enlisted outside help.
•The newly formed firefighters union is not putting its best foot forward, despite its insistence that the members’ allegations and accusations against Cox must be taken seriously and met with immediate action. Unions, on any scale, are not what they once were, as we all know. They were formed with intent and purpose and initially served an admirable cause. They still do in some instances, but they are equally damaging in some respects. That said, no one is suggesting that firefighters do not have legitimate concerns about their chief and his abilities to operate the department. Members of any firefighters union would not issue a unanimous vote of no confidence in a chief without due conviction.
•Residents of Bryant must be wondering what this turmoil will mean for the fire department’s ability to offer professional service. Bryant has not had full-time fire protection that long; residents approved a sales tax initiative a couple of years back to fund full-time fire protection for the growing city. Now, a short time later, residents have a fire department filled with dissent and distress. Yet, despite any differences with Cox or other city officials, firefighters are professionals and we feel confident that they will not allow this issue to interfere with their professional duties and abilities. Firefighters have said as much, and we suspect that Bryant residents take the firefighters at their word.
•Last, but certainly not least, comes the thought that considering everything that has occurred in the past weeks and months, how can anyone in the city of Bryant honestly and realistically expect Cox and firefighters to work in harmony, as if nothing has happened? That’s a downright ridiculous notion. There is such a thing as irreparable damage, and this issue has surely produced a sizable amount of that. The city certainly must expect fallout. To simply pronounce an investigation of this nature closed and expect that everybody will live happily ever after is fairytale thinking at its finest. This issue has caused division among city officials as well as firefighters, and that is beginning to surface. Mayor Larry Mitchell and other city officials have a serious problem on their hands that probably isn’t going away soon.
A growing city so concerned about the negativity this issue has produced has not done a necessarily efficient job of dealing with it. There is such a thing as a self-inflicted wound. |
Razorbacks