I don’t think so, he’s too stubborn and proud to change his ways. Check out this exchange between Alder Baldeh and Chief Koval in the week after that atrocious council meeting. He continues to be combative and doesn’t know when to stop, despite his pleas to move forward and forget about what happened.
Alder Baldeh~
The volatility of certain topics can certainly result in unintended consequences, faulty attribution, and passions that can outpace the sensitivities required for robust, collegial discussions. To the extent that many of you commented that your feelings were hurt by inference (either in words written or commentary provided), I apologize. As I indicated early in the meeting, this is not “my” police department; this is “our” police department and I remain committed to working collaboratively with you all in order to advance the interests of public safety for all of our constituents.
Using my mantra’s of “W.I.N. (What’s Important Now) as well as “G.S.D (Get “Stuff Done), I hope you will receive this message in the spirit in which it is meant . . .Time to move forward to the “new” issues that lie before us and to work together to complete the hard work that need doing. Should you wish to discuss matters further or in the event that you ever want to meet with me for a personal, face-to-face conversation on any issues affecting our City or your District, specifically, please know that you can call my office and we will fast-track an appointment for you.
Respectfully~
Michael C. Koval, Chief of Police
Madison Police Department
211 S. Carroll Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
[www.madisonpolice.com]www.madisonpolice.com
[mkoval@cityofmadison.com%20]mkoval@cityofmadison.com
(608) 266-4664
Morning Chief Koval –
Thank you for the email you sent to all of us alders. I also appreciate it that you are open to a face to face meeting. I think all of us want to look to the future and move forward and get the things that matter to our city addressed. At the same time, one cannot move forward toward a good outcome by failing to address what is wrong in the past.
Your public relations campaign has been very successful with a certain demographic of city residents. For them, standing up for police means we, the Council, cannot do anything except praise you. Since having the nerve to vote for a study to assure the public that we are doing the best we can, and calling attention to your conduct on June 7th, I have been told I must make a public apology to you, or that I must resign, and I have been called, by a constituent, “a worthless piece of crap.” Others have asked if I will be safer in Gambia (my country of birth), implying I do not belong and should go back to where I belong. The people who are writing this kind of things to me think you can do no wrong and that no one has experienced anything different than them. This is not the way for us to move forward, unified as a community.
When you scheduled a meeting on Wednesday March 9th in my district despite there was no courtesy notification for the meeting, I still blog it and invited people to attend. The only reason I could not attend was because I had a long-standing prior commitment. Now I am accused, of disrespecting you because I did not attend. This is extremely divisive.
I am sure you know that as public servants we are held at a certain standard, I hope moving forward we endeavor to keep that standard. As leaders in the community we should never add fuel to some of the issues that may exist in our community but rather find a way to promote what brings us together while we work out our differences. Time will tell how successful we are in repairing the damage that has been done -and not by Council members doing what we legitimately do. I will be giving consideration to the best steps to move my district and the city forward. It will be important to give my constituents facts about the study, such as that the committee recommending it was chaired by an extremely well-respected former MPD captain and how the expense compares to the overall MPD budget.
I am not as old as you, and my record of service to the community is not as long. At the same time, myself and every other person deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. If a person disagrees with you, that is not disrespect. If a person calls attention to your conduct, that might be an important reality check. It is important to be open to perspectives other than one’s own. It is not possible to see from all angles at the same time and no single person has a lock on truth. It is with that openness that I will seek to communicate with my district around this and other issues. Obviously, if a person wants nothing but praise and adulation, they have to be in some other line of work besides public service.
I have copied in the council leadership (president Mike and Pro-temp Marsha) for this is a city issue and not only district 17.
Sincerely
____________________________________
Alder Samba Baldeh
MCC – District 17
Email: district17@cityofmadison.com
www.cityofmadison.com/council/district17
Written on the 13th . . .
Good afternoon, Alder Baldeh~
I appreciate your willingness to move forward on those issues that have implications for public safety. Together, many constructive outcomes are very much within our grasp and I believe that we have common goals that are attainable. However, your email to me makes some attributions which I cannot allow to go unchallenged.
1. You made reference to a “public relations campaign.” I can assure you, there has never been any such thing. What people choose to say or write on their own is hardly within my power of control. And for the record, I have never told anyone that I must be given a public apology by you.
2. The Neighborhood Forums we conduct (3/9) are sent to the media, posted on our web site, Facebook, and relayed through the District blotters. I regret that you did not get personally noticed and steps will be taken to remedy this from happening in the future. I certainly appreciate an Alder has many events and cannot possibly be expected to attend everything . . .in fact, I have seen you make a point of coming to forums and always like to acknowledge the presence of elected officials. I certainly did not feel any measure of personal disrespect for your absence on 3/9 nor did I ever communicate any disappointment over that.
3. I have never resisted a study of the MPD, despite attempts by others to make that attribution. My public policy question was to timing and cost. The ad hoc committee was not criticized by me, and the one of the Chairs to the Committee knows that I have praised his ability to create a group dynamic that could get a finished product together for an RFP.
4. I never once raised any criticism of any single Alder by name. Conversely, the Council certainly had no trepidation in conducting a 2 hour rebuke of me prior to the vote. Suffice to say, I think I can handle public criticism and move forward.
5. I agree with you that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. I also agree that everyone should be open to other perspectives, as I cannot say I have walked in your shoes or you in mine. We will not always agree on matters, but we both walked away feeling that we were disrespected, and for that I am sorry as that was never my intention. I hope we can both agree to try to voice our disagreements differently in the future, allowing for robust conversation.
Respectfully~
Michael C. Koval, Chief of Police
Madison Police Department
211 S. Carroll Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
[www.madisonpolice.com]www.madisonpolice.com
[mkoval@cityofmadison.com%20]mkoval@cityofmadison.com
(608) 266-4664
Well, the chief signed his missive “Respectfully.” That must mean something, mustn’t it?