[Editorial] Johnson Fumbles

November 4, 2009

Mayor Harvey Jr. Johnson rode back into the mayor's office on a platform of openness to the media and the voting public, but he recently left himself vulnerable to criticism on this very issue.

Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill sent a letter to Johnson in early October asking to "have an offline discussion with" the nominees for the police and fire chief positions. He wrote that he would be "inclined to support" both nominees after a "private and thorough discussion" on their positions, and added that without such a discussion he would be disinclined to confirm them.

Johnson took offense, and considered the letter a kind of ultimatum. The letter could be interpreted as such—but Johnson came off as abnormally cold in his reaction to Weill's demands. Yes, Weill is watching Johnson like a hawk. He's overly cautious on Johnson's handling of the budget, and he's excessively nervous about how Johnson's administration is funding both the police department and street paving, as well as a flurry of other niggling concerns that come across more political than anything. Weill is clearly desperate to catch somebody's hand in a cookie jar.

Absurdly, Weill wrote in a letter to The Clarion-Ledger last Sunday that former Mayor Frank Melton—who was no paragon of openness—went out of his way to introduce his nominees to the council. Heck, he had to. We imagine that he had fire chief nominee Todd Chandler, who didn't have a prayer of confirmation, personally bring coffee and donuts to council members' doorsteps in an attempt to be chummy. Meanwhile, Melton was probably hiding in a room shredding public documents that he refused to provide to the council or the public.

Still, Johnson's administration never responded to Weill's requests regarding nominees Raymond McNulty and Rebecca Coleman. According to Weill, city staff never followed through with making appointments. Weill's request may have gone against protocol, or perhaps Johnson feared Weill would chip away at the two over coffee until he unearthed a couple of critical flaws to carry to the press—or minor flaws that Weill would try to blow up into something much of the media would jump on without question.

Maybe Johnson had other reasons to shield his nominees from Weill's questioning, but simply ignoring his request with gave Weill what he needed, and now Johnson must work harder not to look aloof or like he's backsliding on his vow of transparency.

Yes, some critics have their ulterior motives. Weill may well fall into that category, but there's no sense in helping your enemies by giving them yet another weapon with which to beat you, especially if the issue can be remedied with a simple cup of coffee or a polite explanation.

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