|
|
|
Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero has an interesting take on municipal governance: Why let professionalism and competence get in the way of petty politics?
Since taking office last year, Lovero has been waiting for an opportunity to dump Police Chief William Kushner and replace him with, well, someone who isn’t Kushner. Never mind that Kushner has earned high praise for his performance since taking over the position four years ago, including from the man who has now pushed Kushner out of a job.
At the mayor’s urging, Kushner submitted his resignation last week. If he had wanted to play dirty, Kushner could have refused to resign and forced the administration to fire him. This would have made it clear that Lovero’s crew has no need for a qualified leader who helped to improve public safety.
Kushner rose above the grimy politics for which Berwyn is known and went along with the mayor’s request. In doing so, he graciously offered Lovero a flimsy cover to explain that Kushner was moving on to “bigger and better things.”
In saying this, the mayor implied that resigning as police chief was Kushner’s idea. Kushner said this wasn’t the case. Lovero simply doesn’t have the guts to admit that he was behind the move.
It’s sad, because you’d expect Lovero to have some kind of plan in place for who will succeed Kushner as chief. And if he had such a plan, as well as confidence in it, why not announce this at the beginning?
If he doesn’t have a plan, how does Lovero know he’ll find someone as good as Kushner? It’s obvious that this maneuver was more about stacking the deck in the mayor’s favor than it was about serving residents.
Word of the chief’s departure quietly sifted its way through selected individuals until it was publicly confirmed. This way of doing business has served Berwyn poorly in the past, and it doesn’t bode well for its future.
Residents at last week’s City Council meeting said they felt safer with Kushner on the job. Lovero is stealing their sense of security, and that’s a real crime.
Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero has an interesting take on municipal governance: Why let professionalism and competence get in the way of petty politics?
Since taking office last year, Lovero has been waiting for an opportunity to dump Police Chief William Kushner and replace him with, well, someone who isn’t Kushner. Never mind that Kushner has earned high praise for his performance since taking over the position four years ago, including from the man who has now pushed Kushner out of a job.
At the mayor’s urging, Kushner submitted his resignation last week. If he had wanted to play dirty, Kushner could have refused to resign and forced the administration to fire him. This would have made it clear that Lovero’s crew has no need for a qualified leader who helped to improve public safety.
Kushner rose above the grimy politics for which Berwyn is known and went along with the mayor’s request. In doing so, he graciously offered Lovero a flimsy cover to explain that Kushner was moving on to “bigger and better things.”
In saying this, the mayor implied that resigning as police chief was Kushner’s idea. Kushner said this wasn’t the case. Lovero simply doesn’t have the guts to admit that he was behind the move.
It’s sad, because you’d expect Lovero to have some kind of plan in place for who will succeed Kushner as chief. And if he had such a plan, as well as confidence in it, why not announce this at the beginning?
If he doesn’t have a plan, how does Lovero know he’ll find someone as good as Kushner? It’s obvious that this maneuver was more about stacking the deck in the mayor’s favor than it was about serving residents.
Word of the chief’s departure quietly sifted its way through selected individuals until it was publicly confirmed. This way of doing business has served Berwyn poorly in the past, and it doesn’t bode well for its future.
Residents at last week’s City Council meeting said they felt safer with Kushner on the job. Lovero is stealing their sense of security, and that’s a real crime.
