Brent Maguire Deserved Better

 

Brent Maguire deserved better.

The former Fairfield Mayor and 14-year veteran of the city’s police department, was my nominee to become the new police chief. His qualifications were unquestionable.

I announced my pick over the weekend prior to the Tuesday city council meeting. That’s when social media started a high tech lynching of Maguire. I personally had to block a number of posters on my mayor’s Facebook page that intimated he was dismissed from the police department in 2014 for cause. There were other more scurrilous charges….all of which totally false.

Brent Maguire deserved better.

I personally reviewed his police personnel folder and found it to be clean of scandal. My conversation with his supervisor, then-police chief Brad Winter, revealed Maguire served with distinction.

So, his good-name was tarnished without any evidence by a number of keyboard warriors.

Then, if matters couldn’t be worse, the city council decided not to decide.

Maguire deserved an up-or-down vote. What he got was silence. Nobody made a motion, so his nomination died. He put himself out there only to have his character questioned and have eight elected members of his city turn their backs on him.

He deserved better. It would have been better if a motion had been made and then honest discussion as to whether or not he was a good fit for the chief’s chair. But obviously, that discussion had already occurred outside of the public’s presence.

So, the whole debacle has forced me to decide against allowing comments on my Mayoral Facebook page. I will continue to be highly accessible. You can find me nearly every weekday in my office at city hall. Once a month I have “Coffee With The Mayor” at a local restaurant. You can come in and see me face-to-face if you have a problem.   

But the stain on my nominee makes finding another qualified candidate even more challenging. What tripe will be dredged up about the next chief candidate?

Brent Maguire isn’t the only person who was attacked over the last several weeks. Opponents to my handling of a police department personnel issue have started posting things about my family. Its all part of a campaign to intimidate me….and it isn’t working.

But it all stops here. No more comments on my Facebook page. I won’t have to worry about comments attached to a fake Facebook profile anymore.

If you need me, come by or call 618-842-3871.

Brent Maguire deserved better. The whole police department deserved better.