To the editor:

Full disclosure: I have had personal and telephone contact with Chief Palumbo over the years he has been the chief.

However, during the confirmation hearings at council meetings, I strongly suggested that he should not have been nominated due to his lack of experience and education. Further, Mayor Fung was trying to force his appointment of his man by not probably considering other candidates either from within or outside of Cranston. Mr. Palumbo’s wife was used to campaign for the mayor and after the election was given a temporary $15,000 position in his office. There was much discussion from the council, but eventually the mayor got his way.

Now at the same time there was much turmoil going on in the police ranks. Majors were resigning (one just stood before the council and abruptly stated the he was resigning, not going through the normal process). There was so much chatter that one would have had to be on another planet if they were not aware of what was really going on!

The mayor was asking Mr. Palumbo to enter that environment to bring order and carry out the awesome responsibility of managing that department. Any new manager has his task cut out for him, but in this case it was made so much harder due to the substandard process and the obvious turmoil within the department. To his credit, Chief Palumbo made a very strong effort to carry out his mission.

Now enter the ticketing fiasco! Obviously not much of a Boy Scout effort. To say that this was unprofessional, would give a bad meaning for that word! Maybe even dumb is not as useful to describe this action. What world were those responsible living in to think that this action would be rewarded with a more favorable vote on their contract?

At the very beginning I tried to advise the Mayor to step up and do the right things soon after he received the initial report, namely call in the state troopers to temporarily run the department and use them for the investigation. He would have saved himself a lot of headaches today and for his campaign.

Everyone with any knowledge on this sort of thing should know that you are subject to ridicule if you ask those responsible to investigate their brothers. Remember they are all members of the same “blue code.” Then the mayor announces that he has hired an outside firm to report on the internal review? This does not pass the smell test. What were they going to do, look at words on a piece of paper, and not be in a position to ask the next question, that would not suffice? Oh no!

It probably goes without question that many are asking: what did the mayor and chief know and when, and will the state police investigation conclude that both the mayor and chief were derelict in their duties? Remember the mayor by charter is the safety officer for the city, therefore responsible for the department’s performance!

I hope not!

I started this letter to make a case for Col. Palumbo. I have recently told him (well before this ticketing problem) that I thought that he has grown in his position more than any other I have witnessed since he sat in that chair five years ago.

And I still stand by that review!

If anything he was handed a bad hand from the outset, but he worked diligently to further educate himself both formally and on the job. He has “toughness” about himself (I have felt it a bit), but at the same time he knows when to fall back. He has always politely listened to me even when he disagreed and his disagreements were well thought out.

A last thought. After he was convinced that I wasn’t just “blowing smoke’ for my own benefit with regard to his nomination, he said that I taught him a valuable lesson (his main concern was that I brought his wife into my remarks, and when a man takes that position I will always give him every consideration) because it forced him to think through the whole episode and that lesson would serve him well in the future!

That is character. That is leadership.

Richard Tomlins

Cranston