1. Describe the situation and the key players (their roles and relationship to each other)

2. Identify why this case study is related to the Political Frame and defend your position.

3. How you would have addressed the conflict if you were the CEO of the organization?

Trust Your Gut or Go with the Flow? 1 "Conventionality is not morality. Charlotte Bront You were hired on a four-three vote and I wasn't one of the four" an obviously agitated mayor told the newly appointed city manager. "You've got 6 months to prove yourself, and if you don't, you will be fired," he added emphatically. Fresh out of graduate school and slated to be the youngest city manager in the state, Jack Ellis was excited, nonetheless, with his appointment to the position with the city of Woodside. With an elected mayor, clerk, treasurer, and four aldermen, Ellis was only the second manager of Woodside and its first professional one. The previous manager had a background in auto sales. He was a friend of three-term Mayor Marvin Morris, who had essentially run the city for the past 6 years. The mayor had a hand-picked replacement lined up for the departing manager (who had resigned for unknown reasons) in the form of the deputy police chief, Bob Collins. Morris and the former manager 1 Thompson and Leidlein. Ethics in City Hall: Discussion and Analysis for Public Administration. Sudbury, MA. Jones and Bartlett ((2009) had hired the deputy chief directly over the police chief's objection. Police Chief Ronald Grover and Mayor Morris did not see eye to eye, and the fact that the city council passed over Collins for the manager's slot strained the relationship even more. There was also a race issue. Chief Grover was a large African American. Mayor Morris was what many described as a white bigot, a label many also gave to Deputy Chief Collins. Woodside was a city with a population of just over 10,000 compacted into an area just slightly over 1 square mile. It was adjacent to Vernon, a larger central city of about 90,000 people. While portions of Woodside fit the definition of the traditional suburb, most of it was simply a spillover from the larger urban community, and the boundaries were nearly invisible. It had a significant minority population with 65% black, 10% Hispanic, and the remainder white (the usual minority was the majority in Woodside). It was also severely impoverished. Over half of its residents lived in poverty and were on some form of public assistance. The city's development in the 1950s and 1960s reflected typical racist patterns of the times. Water and sewer mains bypassed poorer black neighborhoods to serve more affluent white neighborhoods. With poverty comes high unemployment and with that comes high crime, or so it seems. Woodside had all that and then some. It averaged an incredible one homicide a month. While more often than not the crime itself occurred in Vernon, the victim's remains were dumped in open fields in Woodside and became a crime statistic in Woodside. The twenty-one member police department was a busy one. As a likely result of discriminatory hiring practices in the 1960s, the department's racial makeup did not reflect the community's significant minority population. Only three officers were black, none were Hispanic, and no females claimed membership on the force. Of the three blacks, one was Chief Grover, who had risen in the ranks from officer to sergeant and then chief. How he became chief is a matter of debate (Wood-side had no civil service system) but it was at the orchestration of Mayor Morris and the auto-salesman city manager about 3 years prior to City Manager's Ellis's arrival. Many believed that the mayor made an African American police chief in an effort to dispel his white bigot image. Despite his appointment of Grover, Grover and the mayor continued to butt heads. The mayor was a very hands-on one. In his private vehicle, he had a fully functional police radio and often would communicate with patrol cars directly. He would issue orders, direct their activities, and be very active when he was out and about. He showed up at nearly every homicide scene for a first-hand look. While Chief Grover did not care for this there was not much he could do about it. The city manager was simply a pawn of the mayor so complaining to him would fall of deaf ears. The mayor was not very satisfied with the chief's management style either, and thus hired Collins, a police lieutenant in another community police agency, and made him deputy chief. Mayor Morris directed Collins to straighten out the department. Chief Grover had no say in the creation of the position or the hiring of Collins. This created quite a schism in the police department and, to a lesser extent, the community. Both Grover and Collins had their supporters and detractors, but the chief would win out in the community. Being black helped, but he was an outgoing, gregarious character. He was a glad hander who charmed almost everyone with whom he came into contact. His attendance at community events was always well received and he rarely missed any of them. Deputy Chief Collins was somewhat the opposite. He came across as stern and gruff. He was a policeman's policeman. While not a recluse, when he did attend community events, he usually only made a brief appearance. While his police experience and credentials far exceeded those of the chief (whose only qualifying experience when he applied to the department was that of an ex- marine), Collins did not have the community support. This did not deter Mayor Morris from pushing for Collins's appointment as city manager when the vacancy arose. In an effort to limit competition for the manager's position, it was only advertised locally. Only fifteen or so people applied, one being Ellis, who lived in another state. He learned of the city manager's vacancy from a family member who lived in another suburb of Vernon. Although the mayor had secured the four votes for Collins, he felt compelled to go through the motion of conducting interviews with three finalists: Collins, Ellis, and a local attorney. After the second round of interviews, a motion was made to appoint Collins and the confident Marvin Morris was assured that he had performed his magic. But when the vote was taken the treasurer had changed his mind and cast the deciding no vote. It was learned later that the treasurer changed his vote at the eleventh hour because he felt the mayor had too much power. A motion was then made to hire Ellis and passed by the slim 43 margin. The infuriated mayor called Ellis at his hotel and issued the 6-month ultimatum. Eager to begin his career in city management, Jack Ellis enthusiastically walked into the position with his eyes "wide shut." He was unaware of the politics surrounding his appointment or the ongoing feud between the mayor and police chief. He did learn early on that Deputy Chief Collins was not only disappointed but bitter over losing out on the manager's post. But no one was more bitter over the power struggle than the mayor. If his boy could not be the manager then, by golly, he was going to be the city's next police chief. His next mission was to get rid of Chief Grover. In his first 3 months as manager, Ellis succumbed to the mayor's pressure and followed him around like a puppy dog, including appearances at three homicides. The mayor had a small office at city hall, which he visited precisely at 4:30 each day when he got off of his full-time job as a maintenance worker at a printing shop. He would sit at his desk and write several AVO's, which were 3"x5" yellow pads of paper with the bold heading "Avoid Verbal Orders." He would write directives on these separate slips of form paper and give them to the city manager. Ellis quickly grew to despise these yellow slips of paper. The mayor would regularly vent his displeasure with the police chief to the city manager, often times shrouded in racial innuendo. He felt that Chief Grover was incompetent, barbaric, bombastic, and, because of his girth, an embarrassment to the city. He continued his close association with the deputy chief and others in the department to undermine Grover. While City Manager Ellis saw the mayor on a daily basis, he only saw the other elected officials at their bimonthly council meetings. The council, however, noticed that their new, young city manager was acting more like an assistant to the mayor, and this did not sit well with them. Ellis was reminded that he worked for the entire council, especially the four-member majority that appointed him. As such, after a few months he began to distance himself from the mayor and became more independent and assertive. He actually found Grover to be an effective and competent police chief who certainly had the support of the community and a majority of the city council. The three-member minority, including the mayor, wanted him gone. Like anyone, the chief certainly had his weaknesses, but overall the manager thought his performance was good. After working together for about a year, the police chief approached the city manager with a request. He needed to take a 2-month unpaid leave of absence to tend to his elderly mother, who was terminally ill. Ellis granted the request. The chief asked that he still be allowed to use his city vehicle during his absence as he would respond to emergencies if needed. The manager granted that request as well. When Mayor Morris learned of this he was incensed-outright livid. He told the city manager that the chief was probably lying about his mother's illness. The mayor was proved wrong when she died 8 weeks later. Morris demanded that the chief return the car to police headquarters and park it there during his leave. He also directed the manager to make Deputy Chief Collins the acting police chief. The manager refused, arguing that filling in for the chief when he is absent is exactly what a deputy does. This did not sit well with the mayor, either. At the next city council meeting, the mayor went ballistic. He conceded that it was probably within the manager's authority to grant the chief's leave, but allowing him to use a city car during his leave was another thing altogether. Morris felt it was a travesty and outright wrong. After his tirade, he was successful in garnering three votes to join his in overruling the manager. Such local government drama often piqued the interest of the local news media, and this was no exception. It made the local 11:00 news, with an on-camera appearance by a visibly upset mayor. He stated to the news reporter, "Here is yet another example of Chief Grover trying to steal from the city."1 At 11:15, the telephone rang at city manager Ellis's home. It was an emphatic, I quit!" call from Chief Grover. Despite valiant efforts, Ellis could not change the chief's mind. The mayor had won once again. It appeared that opportunity had once again knocked for Deputy Chief Bob Collins...or had it? Mr. Ellis certainly had his feet to the proverbial fire. His first appointment in his young career was that of a police chief. There is something about police chiefs that garner the media's attention. It may be due to the nature of the job or the type of individual attracted to it. Nothing pleases a reporter more than the opportunity to write about an embattled police chief. In what was to come, they would nearly run out of ink in the printing press of Woodside. Perhaps the easy thing for the city manager to do would have been to simply promote the deputy chief. However, Ellis felt the community likely would not accept this and he was not sure if he could, either. As well, his appointment had to be confirmed by the city council and it is likely the four who would not make Deputy Chief Collins manager would not make him chief, either. After conferring with the council, Manager Ellis decided to conduct a national search for Grover's replacement. Advertisements were placed in two national police journals, and the applications flooded in. In all, over 200 applications were received by the city of Woodside from all over the country. Ellis was told that there would have even been more had he not described the town as racially diverse. It seems every police officer has the goal of someday becoming a police chief. With that many applications, the manager faced a Herculean task indeed. About 150 were easily eliminated, including those from college students, clerical workers, laid-off auto workers, police chiefs in towns where they were the entire police department, and other applicants clearly not qualified. Ellis winnowed the fifty down to ten for interviews. In his first foray into the hiring process for the police chief (he had hired clerks and maintenance workers), Ellis felt that it would be best to form a blue ribbon panel of experts and community activists to assist him with the process. This panel consisted of two council members, a vocal community activist who attended nearly every council meeting, the police chief of a neighboring community, a state police captain, a representative from the prosecutor's office, the city attorney, and two members representing local civic groups. Several residents and activists in the community wanted the interviews to be open to the public. The local news media not only insisted on this but demanded it. City Manager Ellis, however, felt that in order for them to be frank and honest interviews, they should be closed. As it was simply an advisory panel, he did not consider it to be a public body and, thus, was not subject to the state's open meetings act. The city attorney concurred. For the purpose of this case study, only three interviews are noteworthy. Deputy Chief Collins was, of course, a courtesy candidate. His interview was mostly matter of fact and the panel was not overwhelmingly impressed. William Carson was a police chief from a similar community in another state. His interview was impressive. Somewhat quiet and mild mannered, he seemed to possess the tact and leadership needed for the position. The panel was satisfied with his interview but seemed only lukewarm to him. The third and last candidate stormed into the interview room with his commanding 6-foot-4 square-framed presence, walking aggressively and with confidence. His name was Orson Cobb, and he was carrying his briefcase. He approached the front of the room and placed the briefcase on the panel's table in front of City Manager Ellis. As he opened the case, it blocked Ellis's view.Cobb reached into case and extracted a flashy gold badge larger than the size of a typical computer mouse. He handed the badge to the interviewer at the end of the table and asked the panel to pass it down to each other as he explained its significance. In a deep voice with a Boston-like accent, he said "Ladies and gentlemen, that badge was presented to me as a token of esteem and affection by the Hispanic and Black League of the precinct in South Chicago, where I was the captain for 8 years before my retirement." City Manager Ellis's first notation on his pad was door-to-door salesman." For the past 3 years, Cobb had served as police chief in a town in a different midwestern state. He said that he quit because the town council, whom he reported directly to, was corrupt. The panel was particularly impressed with his interview, experience and qualifications. They were especially bowled over with what he would do if he caught an officer on the midnight shift sleeping in his patrol car. (Cobb had told the panel he would be out on patrol supervising the department day and night.) Cobb said that he would get out of his car, walk up to the patrol car, tip it on its side, "shake the cop out, and ask him, 'what in the hell do ya think you're doing?" The city manager was not impressed with Cobb. His choice was the second candidate, Carson. References provided by both candidates were checked and were glowing. Ellis could not quite put his finger on it but there was something about Orson Cobb that did not seem right. But Cobb had wooed the blue ribbon panel, and he was their unanimous choice. Mr. Ellis was faced with quite a conundrum. Should he go with his gut or go with the flow? His gut told him that Carson was the best choice. But his hand-picked blue ribbon panel had unanimously chosen Cobb. How could he turn his back on them? He decided to go with the flow and appointed Cobb. The City Council confirmed his appointment by the now seemingly standard of a 4-3 vote. For a time, all was well. Word reached the community where Cobb had been chief and the flood of media inquiries began. Was Ellis aware that Cobb was being sued by two female clerks for sexual harassment? Was Ellis aware that on more than one occasion Cobb was seen drinking on duty and that on more than one occasion he had returned from lunch to his chief's office intoxicated? Was Ellis aware that Cobb had been in an accident with his city vehicle in a section of a nearby central city frequented by prostitutes? Was he aware...? Was he aware... ? Was he aware...? Cobb, of course, denied all of the allegations, saying that they were rumors perpetrated by his corrupt town council and political enemies. The local Woodside media, of course, entered into the frenzy. The city of Wood-side, its new police chief, and its relatively new city manager were front page news for nearly 2 weeks with scandalous headlines. An editorial gave new Chief Cobb the benefit of the doubt and wished him well as Woodside's new police chief. But they chastised and scathed City Manager Ellis for the secrecy in the selection process. Ellis's "gut" was correct. Chief Cobb was a disaster. He was the disappointment the city manager had feared. From the outset, Cobb alienated all but a handful of people both within and outside of the police department. He was not the round-the- clock chief that he had assured the blue ribbon panel he would be. He usually came into the department around 9:00 or 9:30 in the morning and was always gone by 5:00, even earlier on Fridays. He rarely went on the road as he promised he would. His management style was condescending and abrasive. His chain smoking (three to four packs a day) added to his negative persona. Chief Cobb spent weeknights in a tiny apartment in Woodside and left every Friday to drive over 400 miles to spend the weekend with his wife. He told City Manager Ellis that he would not move to Woodside until he was given assurance that he would have a long tenure with the city. Ellis could not give him that assurance. Cobb was Ellis's first chief hired, and his first chief fired. Cobb lasted 6 months. Trust Your Gut or Go with the Flow? 1 "Conventionality is not morality. Charlotte Bront You were hired on a four-three vote and I wasn't one of the four" an obviously agitated mayor told the newly appointed city manager. "You've got 6 months to prove yourself, and if you don't, you will be fired," he added emphatically. Fresh out of graduate school and slated to be the youngest city manager in the state, Jack Ellis was excited, nonetheless, with his appointment to the position with the city of Woodside. With an elected mayor, clerk, treasurer, and four aldermen, Ellis was only the second manager of Woodside and its first professional one. The previous manager had a background in auto sales. He was a friend of three-term Mayor Marvin Morris, who had essentially run the city for the past 6 years. The mayor had a hand-picked replacement lined up for the departing manager (who had resigned for unknown reasons) in the form of the deputy police chief, Bob Collins. Morris and the former manager 1 Thompson and Leidlein. Ethics in City Hall: Discussion and Analysis for Public Administration. Sudbury, MA. Jones and Bartlett ((2009) had hired the deputy chief directly over the police chief's objection. Police Chief Ronald Grover and Mayor Morris did not see eye to eye, and the fact that the city council passed over Collins for the manager's slot strained the relationship even more. There was also a race issue. Chief Grover was a large African American. Mayor Morris was what many described as a white bigot, a label many also gave to Deputy Chief Collins. Woodside was a city with a population of just over 10,000 compacted into an area just slightly over 1 square mile. It was adjacent to Vernon, a larger central city of about 90,000 people. While portions of Woodside fit the definition of the traditional suburb, most of it was simply a spillover from the larger urban community, and the boundaries were nearly invisible. It had a significant minority population with 65% black, 10% Hispanic, and the remainder white (the usual minority was the majority in Woodside). It was also severely impoverished. Over half of its residents lived in poverty and were on some form of public assistance. The city's development in the 1950s and 1960s reflected typical racist patterns of the times. Water and sewer mains bypassed poorer black neighborhoods to serve more affluent white neighborhoods. With poverty comes high unemployment and with that comes high crime, or so it seems. Woodside had all that and then some. It averaged an incredible one homicide a month. While more often than not the crime itself occurred in Vernon, the victim's remains were dumped in open fields in Woodside and became a crime statistic in Woodside. The twenty-one member police department was a busy one. As a likely result of discriminatory hiring practices in the 1960s, the department's racial makeup did not reflect the community's significant minority population. Only three officers were black, none were Hispanic, and no females claimed membership on the force. Of the three blacks, one was Chief Grover, who had risen in the ranks from officer to sergeant and then chief. How he became chief is a matter of debate (Wood-side had no civil service system) but it was at the orchestration of Mayor Morris and the auto-salesman city manager about 3 years prior to City Manager's Ellis's arrival. Many believed that the mayor made an African American police chief in an effort to dispel his white bigot image. Despite his appointment of Grover, Grover and the mayor continued to butt heads. The mayor was a very hands-on one. In his private vehicle, he had a fully functional police radio and often would communicate with patrol cars directly. He would issue orders, direct their activities, and be very active when he was out and about. He showed up at nearly every homicide scene for a first-hand look. While Chief Grover did not care for this there was not much he could do about it. The city manager was simply a pawn of the mayor so complaining to him would fall of deaf ears. The mayor was not very satisfied with the chief's management style either, and thus hired Collins, a police lieutenant in another community police agency, and made him deputy chief. Mayor Morris directed Collins to straighten out the department. Chief Grover had no say in the creation of the position or the hiring of Collins. This created quite a schism in the police department and, to a lesser extent, the community. Both Grover and Collins had their supporters and detractors, but the chief would win out in the community. Being black helped, but he was an outgoing, gregarious character. He was a glad hander who charmed almost everyone with whom he came into contact. His attendance at community events was always well received and he rarely missed any of them. Deputy Chief Collins was somewhat the opposite. He came across as stern and gruff. He was a policeman's policeman. While not a recluse, when he did attend community events, he usually only made a brief appearance. While his police experience and credentials far exceeded those of the chief (whose only qualifying experience when he applied to the department was that of an ex- marine), Collins did not have the community support. This did not deter Mayor Morris from pushing for Collins's appointment as city manager when the vacancy arose. In an effort to limit competition for the manager's position, it was only advertised locally. Only fifteen or so people applied, one being Ellis, who lived in another state. He learned of the city manager's vacancy from a family member who lived in another suburb of Vernon. Although the mayor had secured the four votes for Collins, he felt compelled to go through the motion of conducting interviews with three finalists: Collins, Ellis, and a local attorney. After the second round of interviews, a motion was made to appoint Collins and the confident Marvin Morris was assured that he had performed his magic. But when the vote was taken the treasurer had changed his mind and cast the deciding no vote. It was learned later that the treasurer changed his vote at the eleventh hour because he felt the mayor had too much power. A motion was then made to hire Ellis and passed by the slim 43 margin. The infuriated mayor called Ellis at his hotel and issued the 6-month ultimatum. Eager to begin his career in city management, Jack Ellis enthusiastically walked into the position with his eyes "wide shut." He was unaware of the politics surrounding his appointment or the ongoing feud between the mayor and police chief. He did learn early on that Deputy Chief Collins was not only disappointed but bitter over losing out on the manager's post. But no one was more bitter over the power struggle than the mayor. If his boy could not be the manager then, by golly, he was going to be the city's next police chief. His next mission was to get rid of Chief Grover. In his first 3 months as manager, Ellis succumbed to the mayor's pressure and followed him around like a puppy dog, including appearances at three homicides. The mayor had a small office at city hall, which he visited precisely at 4:30 each day when he got off of his full-time job as a maintenance worker at a printing shop. He would sit at his desk and write several AVO's, which were 3"x5" yellow pads of paper with the bold heading "Avoid Verbal Orders." He would write directives on these separate slips of form paper and give them to the city manager. Ellis quickly grew to despise these yellow slips of paper. The mayor would regularly vent his displeasure with the police chief to the city manager, often times shrouded in racial innuendo. He felt that Chief Grover was incompetent, barbaric, bombastic, and, because of his girth, an embarrassment to the city. He continued his close association with the deputy chief and others in the department to undermine Grover. While City Manager Ellis saw the mayor on a daily basis, he only saw the other elected officials at their bimonthly council meetings. The council, however, noticed that their new, young city manager was acting more like an assistant to the mayor, and this did not sit well with them. Ellis was reminded that he worked for the entire council, especially the four-member majority that appointed him. As such, after a few months he began to distance himself from the mayor and became more independent and assertive. He actually found Grover to be an effective and competent police chief who certainly had the support of the community and a majority of the city council. The three-member minority, including the mayor, wanted him gone. Like anyone, the chief certainly had his weaknesses, but overall the manager thought his performance was good. After working together for about a year, the police chief approached the city manager with a request. He needed to take a 2-month unpaid leave of absence to tend to his elderly mother, who was terminally ill. Ellis granted the request. The chief asked that he still be allowed to use his city vehicle during his absence as he would respond to emergencies if needed. The manager granted that request as well. When Mayor Morris learned of this he was incensed-outright livid. He told the city manager that the chief was probably lying about his mother's illness. The mayor was proved wrong when she died 8 weeks later. Morris demanded that the chief return the car to police headquarters and park it there during his leave. He also directed the manager to make Deputy Chief Collins the acting police chief. The manager refused, arguing that filling in for the chief when he is absent is exactly what a deputy does. This did not sit well with the mayor, either. At the next city council meeting, the mayor went ballistic. He conceded that it was probably within the manager's authority to grant the chief's leave, but allowing him to use a city car during his leave was another thing altogether. Morris felt it was a travesty and outright wrong. After his tirade, he was successful in garnering three votes to join his in overruling the manager. Such local government drama often piqued the interest of the local news media, and this was no exception. It made the local 11:00 news, with an on-camera appearance by a visibly upset mayor. He stated to the news reporter, "Here is yet another example of Chief Grover trying to steal from the city."1 At 11:15, the telephone rang at city manager Ellis's home. It was an emphatic, I quit!" call from Chief Grover. Despite valiant efforts, Ellis could not change the chief's mind. The mayor had won once again. It appeared that opportunity had once again knocked for Deputy Chief Bob Collins...or had it? Mr. Ellis certainly had his feet to the proverbial fire. His first appointment in his young career was that of a police chief. There is something about police chiefs that garner the media's attention. It may be due to the nature of the job or the type of individual attracted to it. Nothing pleases a reporter more than the opportunity to write about an embattled police chief. In what was to come, they would nearly run out of ink in the printing press of Woodside. Perhaps the easy thing for the city manager to do would have been to simply promote the deputy chief. However, Ellis felt the community likely would not accept this and he was not sure if he could, either. As well, his appointment had to be confirmed by the city council and it is likely the four who would not make Deputy Chief Collins manager would not make him chief, either. After conferring with the council, Manager Ellis decided to conduct a national search for Grover's replacement. Advertisements were placed in two national police journals, and the applications flooded in. In all, over 200 applications were received by the city of Woodside from all over the country. Ellis was told that there would have even been more had he not described the town as racially diverse. It seems every police officer has the goal of someday becoming a police chief. With that many applications, the manager faced a Herculean task indeed. About 150 were easily eliminated, including those from college students, clerical workers, laid-off auto workers, police chiefs in towns where they were the entire police department, and other applicants clearly not qualified. Ellis winnowed the fifty down to ten for interviews. In his first foray into the hiring process for the police chief (he had hired clerks and maintenance workers), Ellis felt that it would be best to form a blue ribbon panel of experts and community activists to assist him with the process. This panel consisted of two council members, a vocal community activist who attended nearly every council meeting, the police chief of a neighboring community, a state police captain, a representative from the prosecutor's office, the city attorney, and two members representing local civic groups. Several residents and activists in the community wanted the interviews to be open to the public. The local news media not only insisted on this but demanded it. City Manager Ellis, however, felt that in order for them to be frank and honest interviews, they should be closed. As it was simply an advisory panel, he did not consider it to be a public body and, thus, was not subject to the state's open meetings act. The city attorney concurred. For the purpose of this case study, only three interviews are noteworthy. Deputy Chief Collins was, of course, a courtesy candidate. His interview was mostly matter of fact and the panel was not overwhelmingly impressed. William Carson was a police chief from a similar community in another state. His interview was impressive. Somewhat quiet and mild mannered, he seemed to possess the tact and leadership needed for the position. The panel was satisfied with his interview but seemed only lukewarm to him. The third and last candidate stormed into the interview room with his commanding 6-foot-4 square-framed presence, walking aggressively and with confidence. His name was Orson Cobb, and he was carrying his briefcase. He approached the front of the room and placed the briefcase on the panel's table in front of City Manager Ellis. As he opened the case, it blocked Ellis's view.Cobb reached into case and extracted a flashy gold badge larger than the size of a typical computer mouse. He handed the badge to the interviewer at the end of the table and asked the panel to pass it down to each other as he explained its significance. In a deep voice with a Boston-like accent, he said "Ladies and gentlemen, that badge was presented to me as a token of esteem and affection by the Hispanic and Black League of the precinct in South Chicago, where I was the captain for 8 years before my retirement." City Manager Ellis's first notation on his pad was door-to-door salesman." For the past 3 years, Cobb had served as police chief in a town in a different midwestern state. He said that he quit because the town council, whom he reported directly to, was corrupt. The panel was particularly impressed with his interview, experience and qualifications. They were especially bowled over with what he would do if he caught an officer on the midnight shift sleeping in his patrol car. (Cobb had told the panel he would be out on patrol supervising the department day and night.) Cobb said that he would get out of his car, walk up to the patrol car, tip it on its side, "shake the cop out, and ask him, 'what in the hell do ya think you're doing?" The city manager was not impressed with Cobb. His choice was the second candidate, Carson. References provided by both candidates were checked and were glowing. Ellis could not quite put his finger on it but there was something about Orson Cobb that did not seem right. But Cobb had wooed the blue ribbon panel, and he was their unanimous choice. Mr. Ellis was faced with quite a conundrum. Should he go with his gut or go with the flow? His gut told him that Carson was the best choice. But his hand-picked blue ribbon panel had unanimously chosen Cobb. How could he turn his back on them? He decided to go with the flow and appointed Cobb. The City Council confirmed his appointment by the now seemingly standard of a 4-3 vote. For a time, all was well. Word reached the community where Cobb had been chief and the flood of media inquiries began. Was Ellis aware that Cobb was being sued by two female clerks for sexual harassment? Was Ellis aware that on more than one occasion Cobb was seen drinking on duty and that on more than one occasion he had returned from lunch to his chief's office intoxicated? Was Ellis aware that Cobb had been in an accident with his city vehicle in a section of a nearby central city frequented by prostitutes? Was he aware...? Was he aware... ? Was he aware...? Cobb, of course, denied all of the allegations, saying that they were rumors perpetrated by his corrupt town council and political enemies. The local Woodside media, of course, entered into the frenzy. The city of Wood-side, its new police chief, and its relatively new city manager were front page news for nearly 2 weeks with scandalous headlines. An editorial gave new Chief Cobb the benefit of the doubt and wished him well as Woodside's new police chief. But they chastised and scathed City Manager Ellis for the secrecy in the selection process. Ellis's "gut" was correct. Chief Cobb was a disaster. He was the disappointment the city manager had feared. From the outset, Cobb alienated all but a handful of people both within and outside of the police department. He was not the round-the- clock chief that he had assured the blue ribbon panel he would be. He usually came into the department around 9:00 or 9:30 in the morning and was always gone by 5:00, even earlier on Fridays. He rarely went on the road as he promised he would. His management style was condescending and abrasive. His chain smoking (three to four packs a day) added to his negative persona. Chief Cobb spent weeknights in a tiny apartment in Woodside and left every Friday to drive over 400 miles to spend the weekend with his wife. He told City Manager Ellis that he would not move to Woodside until he was given assurance that he would have a long tenure with the city. Ellis could not give him that assurance. Cobb was Ellis's first chief hired, and his first chief fired. Cobb lasted 6 months