Here’s a question about (limited) government: If the residents of a town want an official fired, is the fundamental problem that they’re asking that he be fired, or the reason that they’re asking? In the Township of Linn, not far from Whitewater, a group of residents want the police chief fired. They’ve filed a complaint against him with the town board, “accusing [Police Chief] Wisniewski of disrespecting a superior, neglecting his duty and “repeatedly belittling officers and eroding department morale.” See, Linn residents want town police chief fired.
Longtime readers of FREE WHITEWATER know that I’ve posted on this matter before, following local press coverage of several issues. The town’s chief sold a lawnmower that was part of a criminal investigation, a police lieutenant who complained about the sale was fired, and the municipality later reached a five-figure settlement with the fired officer. (As one could guess, the lawnmower — worth far less than good government and sound policing — was sold to a relative of another officer in the department.)
The chief was briefly suspended, and these charges seem to stem from conduct related to that lawnmower sale, but taking place since that time:
The complaint, which accuses Wisniewski of several infractions that stem from the lawnmower incident, including lying to the sheriff’s office during an investigation, states “his inclination to retaliate has been a threat to local citizens and has hindered and done irreparable harm” to the town.
The complaint also states his “capricious and retaliatory mindset” has cost town taxpayers more than $100,000 for legal fees.
The residents who signed the complaint have asked the town board to place Wisniewski on administrative leave and convene the town police committee as soon as possible. They also have asked that Wisniewski undergo an updated background check, routine physical examination and psychological evaluation.
“We have reason to believe that Mr. Wisniewski could be a danger to himself or to the township as well,” the complaint states.
Those are no light charges. If even some of these claims prove true –and I’m not a resident of Linn, and don’t know — they would certainly disqualify anyone from serving effectively.
There’s a deeper question, underling the issues in this matter: what does on think of citizens complaining this way? For many places, including my own small town of Whitewater, Wisconsin, I’m sure the very idea of it would be unsettling to local officials.
They’d consider a complaint against an official an affront to decency, order, morality, propriety, and the physical laws of the known universe. There’s lip service about good government from many local officials, but nothing more.
A complaint about a public official — even a small town one — would be less welcome than a petition in support of cannibalism.
It’s not, of course, the community that’s threatened, but officials themselves, and so they contend that questions about their conduct amount to a challenge to all civilization. A few people like this will make their way into government, and then they hire others like themselves, making the lion’s share of a political culture in their own, pale images.
Looking at my own town, I’m trying to think of those occasions when our city manager has expressed genuine frustration or irritation in a public meeting. I can think of only two occasions. Those times were not about our many empty buildings, idle spaces, high child poverty, increasing municipal debt, multiple conflicts of interest, or officials’ penchant to exaggerate, distort, and preen.
No, the only two public meetings of so very many where I saw Kevin Brunner, our city manager, show frustration involved criticism of our city’s tree pruning. He complained, on separate occasions, that employees were being maligned and later that lawful criticism of them was egregious.
That’s it.
Defenders, and detractors, too, might say that he gets upset behind the scenes more often. So what? When it matters, he acts only to defend the status quo, and boast about the empty accomplishments of a failing municipal administration.
If anything like the complaint in Linn happened in Whitewater, so upset would the dim and dull leaders of the town be that their anxiety would cause the earth to break open, and the lot of them to fall into a vast sinkhole of consternation.
And yet, and yet — all of this is nothing more than a citizen concern, to be aired and addressed. If true, acted upon; if false, dismissed. That some cannot see as much, is a disgrace to them, and a burden on the cities in which they live.