North Miami sucked me in again. But certainly not in the way I expected.
As reported last night by Channel 7’s Carmel Cafiero, it appears that Mayor Lucie Tondreau is under fire for being escorted to city events by a police officer due to telephone threats made to City Hall by a resident last month.
Ordinarily, my first response would have been to sarcastically blast the city for what at first seemed like an overreaction to those threats. But, in light of the recent tragedy in the Washington Navy Yard, in which the shooter’s history of mental problems are now being revealed, it slowly dawned on me that no threat should be taken lightly. Even by someone who seems like a harmless crackpot.
Yes, I know. North Miami has had more than its share of crazy. From the city that brought you Jesus endorsed candidates, campaign fist fights, “missing” absentee ballots, and election coronations, by now you should come to expect the unexpected in North Miami.
However, there’s “crazy” in a nutty kinda way, and then there’s really, truly “crazy” in a watch-out-he’s-got-a-gun kinda way. Aaron Alexis was obviously in the second category.
The fact that the State Attorney’s Office determined that “no crime had been committed” in the case of the North Miami resident who repeatedly called City Hall making “crazy” statements has absolutely no bearing on whether or not he presented a clear danger to the mayor, council and employees of North Miami. Just because a crime had not been committed – yet – doesn’t mean that it couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.
As pointed out in Michelle Malkin’s eye opening column today, WARNING: Our government is a threat to public safety, there were more than enough signs to warrant a closer watch on the Navy Yard shooter, Aaron Alexis, by the very governmental agency (U.S. Navy) he served. And yet, those signs were ignored. Similar signs were evident in the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hasan, who also worked for the government (U.S. Army). There are others, as Malkin points out, who have been and who most likely are still flying under the radar.
North Miami’s City Manager Stephen Johnson absolutely did the right thing by taking the threat seriously and taking proper precautions to protect the mayor, council and employees of the city he is charged to oversee. Unlike the federal government, he chose not to drop the ball.
Whether or not you are a fan of Lucie Tondreau, as an elected official she has every right to expect a safe and secure environment in which to perform her mayoral duties. If that means having a police escort while the threat is still imminent, so be it. No threat should ever be dismissed or ignored.
For once, North Miami got it right. And I commend Mr. Johnson for doing the right thing.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
UPDATE 09/19/13
To those doubters and critics who think I got it wrong:
Just saying.
Stephanie
She was being driven around before those calls even came in to City Hall. The calls are from a drunk guy in Keystone. They aren’t even considered “threats” under state statute and that’s obvious as evidence by the fact that the police department just called him and asked him to “cease and desist”. They only qualify as nuisance calls. That’s a misdemeanor. This whole thing about being chauffeured because of the phone calls is a smoke screen. Don’t fall for it. Oh and p.s. nice of Steve Johnson to take the fall for it, I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do when the bosses ass in a jam.
I never underestimate what a “harmless drunk” is capable of doing. Do you really think that telling a crazy person to “cease and desist” is going to work if they suddenly snap? How many “nuisance calls” eventually turn tragic? THAT was MY point.
Disagree. This is bad precedent.
The guy who called in the so-called threats never mentioned her by name.
The guy is a nut, but Lucie is nuttier and is actually craving this attention.
I never said that Lucie isn’t craving attention. I’ve noted that in many previous columns. She’s obviously relishing the spotlight. Aside from that, however, public officials are easy targets and can be psycho magnets simply by virtue of the fact that they are public figures. See my update above.
What the hell have you been sipping on? There’s a threat and then there is a threat. She received preferential treatment that was not afforded to our other elected officials. Please tell me why our Chief of Police had to escort the Mayor to Haiti? While no crime or ethics violation was committed by this “poser”, it’s a slap in the face of the taxpayers of North Miami. I’m very shocked by your turn about face report. Something stinks in Denmark.
I made no reference to the chief’s trip to Haiti. That is an entirely different subject. I was only referring to the potential danger of ignoring the signs of mental illness. Unless you’re living under a rock, there’s a reason the term “going postal” was coined. Google it in case you don’t remember.
You’re correct in saying that nuts and crackpots should be watched, but the key in this case is that, “She was being driven around before those calls even came in to City Hall.” Her use of police resources was not in connection to the phone calls. She even had a police sgt’s schedule changed and he was ordered to take her kids to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. “Sgt Daycare” aka Emile Hollant, didn’t work his regular shift and city taxpayers paid for him to drive her kids around.
All of that might be the case. However, my entire point was that every single threat must be taken seriously. There are far too many loose cannons out there to ignore.
Threats should be taken seriously, but lest we descend in to a surveillance state, we should also handle them reasonably.
Providing special protection when there is no evidence of a need clogs up limited resources. Lower level city employees who actually work in the field, among denizens, are more likely to face danger or violence from a disgruntled citizen than a mayor chilling in the city hall.
I don’t know enough about the US Navy shooting, but usually in these shootings the bullets are aimed indiscriminately, and that mostly means regular folks, lower-level grunts and civilians face most of the mortality, whereas the death by violence of politicians and administrators in government positions pales in comparison.
I’m confused by your comparison, then, of Lucy getting a personal police escort, and the tendency of mentally ill people to go on shooting sprees in public areas.