Police Chief Court Case Continued

There are simply some things in life that just make common sense.
It makes sense to keep the current acting police chief in place until a permanent chief is selected. She has been doing the job, has long term experience on the force, & knows the city & its people. She has wide support from the police officers, & considerable support from residents.
If the PEOPLE directly decided who would have been selected chief, Dominguez would have been their choice. The problem is the aldermen rarely consult with their constituents about what they want, EVEN THOUGH the aldermen are SUPPOSED to represent the people!
THAT is how representative government is supposed to work! The aldermen didn't even have the courage to do a role call vote to go on record so their constituents would know how they voted on the mayor's appointment of Dominguez.
Dominguez was pushed out if consideration by the BOA, certain individuals, a group of black ministers who do not represent the entire black community, & certain local media which joined the opposition by spreading doubts and distortions about Dominguez's commitment to this city.
Racism and sexism played a role in Dominguez's decision to withdraw her name from consideration. If she was black she would be chief right now!
This Kimber lawsuit makes no sense. The cries for a national search made no sense. Both of these things are a gross waste of our tax dollars which could be used for more important city needs.
Advocates of this case and the search, largely pushed by Kimber and his miniscule ministers group, should pay for both!
In the long run we shall all see that it would have been much more cost effective for the city to have kept Dominguez. She had risen through the ranks, did an effective, efficient job at a very challenging time, and was supported by most of the NHPD!
Many seriously doubt any outsider could do better!
There are different views in this city about this matter, but everybody's voice was not heard. But we will all pay!

Continued...
The city should not be taken hostage by one person or one group. There appears to be some fear on the part of many in this community to stand up for what makes sense, and stand against to those who do not speak for or represent the majority of the residents of this city, or the best interests of this city.
This is supposed to be a democracy. The majority is supposed to rule. Everyone has a right to speak and advocate their position, but the final decision on any issue must be made by the majority, not a single unelected member of the community or an organization he may lead.
In this great controversy over large selection of a police chief, many residents strongly believe the BOA, our city legislature, failed the public by rejecting the mayor's choice, and demoralized the NHPD by rejecting one of their own and now turning to outsiders to run the department!
That sends the wrong message to the rank and file who work here that none of them, after many years of dedicated service, are good enough to be chief!

I'm curious who is paying for the plaintiff's lawyer? To me, I don't see "acting" the same way as "temporary." Wasn't the current Assessor serving as "acting" for several years before his eventual position as non-acting Assessor was eventually finalized? Not sure why it took so long, but my point is that nobody had a problem with that.

Dominguez reorganizes the department with supervisor and detective changes over the past year. So far, zero murders this year.

Seeing Kimber represents the whole city and is the only person whose voice matters, still waiting to hear Kimbers plan to address the moral decay in the city.

Its not about results, its about gender and race.

Thomas Alfred Paine says it correctly throughout his post, from the PEOPLE and most of the Department supporting Dominguez , to the racist and sexist attitude of the BOA and Kimber and his allies,to a voice vote by the alders, refusing to identify their vote , to taxpayers having to pay from an unnecessary expensive search for a candidate who will eventually leave . Time to challenge the DTC and BOA and CLEAN HOUSE.

This isn't rocket science. Putting aside peoples' feelings about the people involved, it's clear that the intent of the charter and ordinance is to make sure no one is an a temporary/acting position longer than 6 months. It's also clear that the language needs to be modified (good luck with that) for circumstances where it makes sense to extend the timeframe as is happening now with the current acting chief. Since we're all allegedly adults (stop laughing), there should be a way for the Mayor and the Board of Alderman to work together (again, stop laughing) to resolve this in order to protect the interests of the people of New Haven. A lawsuit, though, is unnecessary and a waste of time (I've spent five minutes I'll never get back writing this) and money. With all of that said, if there aren't any adults in the room, then all bets are off!

EBS is right that practicality demands modification to the legal language in order to prevent trigger happy demagogues from filing lawsuits against the city when it suits their political purpose.

I would like it if the NHI could retrieve comments from Kimber about what another commenter mentioned. Why Kimber orchestrated the rejection of a veteran white woman cop who held temp police chief position for 6 mos, but silently tolerated a black male who held the temp city assessor position for years under a black mayor.

If anyone bothers to look at the demographic history of New Haven, the need for Kimber to struggle to remain relevant will become clear. Ethnic groups take power until another group has the numbers and political power to become dominant in city politics. At that point the dominant group allows the former powerful groups to nibble at the crumbs of power that fall from the table. Kimber sees his crumbs diminishing and does not like it. Enough said!

Thomas Alfred Paine- you said exactly what I’ve been thinking on this issue. Thank you.

Thomas Payne, how dare you go after Dr. Kimber. He has a right as a private citizen to challenge the City's administration and the decisions that they make on behalf of the residents of New Haven. He is operating precisely in the manner in which he should considering his role as a clergy person and civil rights advocate. It does not take a million people to get behind a cause for a person to be effective, it only take a small group of committed justice-seeking advocates to make things happen. You are on the wrong side of this issue, and you should be ashamed of yourself for referring to Kimber and his clergy as a minuscule group. There needs to be a national search for a police chief, simply put! Allow the courts to decide if this case is ripe for review in which case your opinion will not matter, if this is a subject of law.

Rev. Kimber can say whatever he wants to say. Thankfully, many people are on to him. Hopefully, the courts will allow Ms.Dominguez to remain on the job until a suitable replacement is hired.

@ThePeoplesChoice
Do you not see the irony of challenging my right to free speech while defending Mr. Kimber's?
We all have the right to freely express dissenting viewpoints.
When a minister or any other citizen engages in what is generally considered a frivolous lawsuit at great expense to the taxpayers, people have a right and a duty to speak up!
Everybody knows that if the acting chief was black, Mr.Kimber would not be in court. In fact, if a group of white clergy when to court to challenge a black acting chief, Mr. Kimber and his small group of ministers would hold a press conference in front of City Hall, calling such a lawsuit racist and frivolous!
Clergy have no monopoly on facts, truth, honesty, integrity or common sense. Even they must be held accountable for what they say and do.
Like their politicians, people must place their ministers and other community leaders under intense scrutiny. Sometimes we can't even tell the difference among them all.
In this unfortunate and totally unnecessary lawsuit, the public will eventually observe the outcome. Hopefully the court will hearken to the voice of Common Sense, even if some ministers and others, not acting in the best interests of this city, will not!