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Let's go back to last week's dueling press conferences on the public safety charter amendment. I'm going to post Mayor Frey's criticism along with City Council response (mostly from Jeremiah Ellison, who I think articulates things most clearly and directly).
Mayor Frey making it about Chief Arradondo's status. (Same thing we saw in the full page "support the chief" ad yesterday) https://twitter.com/WedgeLIVE/status/1276608998804840449
Ellison: "This isn't about [Mayor Frey]. This isn't about the chief. It's not really about the council either. It's about the fact that we have a system of public safety that in a lot of ways fails to keep people safe... We need to design policy that isn't personality-based."
Steve Fletcher: "When I was running for this office, before I knew who the mayor and chief would be, it was a common talking point for me that we can't keep leaving this to the mayor and the chief." The charter change is about creating a job where a 1st-class leader can succeed.
Mayor Frey argues he wants to prevent finger-pointing contests. https://twitter.com/WedgeLIVE/status/1276610702183067648
Ellison: "I watched the press conference and that seemed to be what his definition of transparency was. That when things go utterly awry, people get to blame [the mayor]. People don't just want someone to blame, they want things to work. And the current system has not worked."
Ellison: "In every other part of this city, the mayor has executive authority, not complete authority. And the council has legislative authority. Except for the police... People have to feel confident that when policies are written" they're followed by city staff.
Mayor Frey has questions, wants clarity. https://twitter.com/WedgeLIVE/status/1276605908357754881
Ellison: "the Council has been clear. I think that the Mayor, if I'm being frank, has decided that it's in his best interest to generate a lack of clarity... A lot of the details of any department can be written in ordinance, and frequently are."
Mayor Frey's "14 bosses" argument. https://twitter.com/WedgeLIVE/status/1276617176435142656
Ellison: "The truth is the city structure for every other department, with the exception of the current police department is: the mayor as the executive and the city council as the legislative. [The charter amendment] would give the council legislative authority."
Ellison's bottle analogy: "If you imagine the police department is a bottle, if it's only labeled 'police,' only police can go in it. If we label it 'public safety' then sure police can occupy that space, but a lot of other things can go into it."
Here's 60 seconds of Cam Gordon saying "this isn't about Chief Arradondo," set to the karaoke version of Kelly Clarkson's "I Don't Think About You."