And You Can Wave Him Bye-Bye! Goodman Spills Beans About Smilin' Bob at Budget Hearing
The big news out of Minneapolis City Hall last week, as I wrote Thursday, was the proposed cuts to police and fire departments (resulting in at least 220 layoffs between the two departments), and Mayor R.T. Rybak's special hearing to explain how the cuts will help the city's budget woes.
To no one's surprise, Rybak took a small shot at Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson, saying that Olson had not yet come up with a plan that met the mayor's satisfaction. (The two have had an on-again, off-again rivalry since Rybak tried to oust Olson more than a year ago.) Olson wants to lay off 230 cops, Rybak says 150 is his limit. Fire Chief Rocco Forte, on the other hand, put together a money-saving package that Rybak liked, with 70 proposed firefighter layoffs, and quickly. So, to summarize: Rocco good; Smilin' Bob bad.
But council member Lisa Goodman (Seventh Ward) dished a bigger scoop that day: Olson won't be police chief a year from now. How much say would the mayor have, Goodman wanted to know, in Olson's cost-cutting plans, since the chief likely wouldn't be around to deal with the subsequent fallout.
"You can have the discussion at a policy level," Goodman pressed Rybak. "But it's my understanding that the police chief is leaving in less than a year. Are you going to let him make these decisions on his own?"
(Rybak responded that he would be very involved in the process.)
Perhaps it was not a shocking tidbit, and many have anticipated Olson's departure in a good number of scenarios, but it's the first time I've heard it expressed so plainly by a city leader in a public capacity. Olson's exit, if Goodman was on the mark, will simply come when Olson's contract expires on the first day of next year.
And isn't that sort of anti-climactic? I mean, I could have seen Olson securing a spot with Governor Tim Pawlenty's administration, or perhaps leaping to some position with the U.S. Department of Justice, or just simply moving on to a bigger city with a bigger police department--all the while seeking revenge on Rybak for trying to fire him publicly, in the media, last winter. Then again, there's still time for Olson to wiggle out.
That the city wouldn't renew his contract wasn't such a forgone conclusion--despite animosity between the chief and the mayor, Olson does have some support on the city council. Apparently there's not enough to stick around.
Even so, Olson and Rybak are stuck with each other for now, during these money-grubbing, budget-slashing times when hardly anyone gets along on any major policy decision.
"I need to hear yes, you will have input, given that the chief won't be here January 1, 2004," Goodman concluded. "These are major decisions that he won't be around for."
Rybak acquiesced. "You are very right to articulate this," Rybak agreed. "The short answer is yes. Chief Olson and I will continue to meet to solve these challenges."
The question remains whether the work will be done quietly.
1:14:19 PM 
|
