Brown by Schutze

Jim Schutze has a fine column in this week's Dallas Observer in which he portrays Dallas Police Chief David Brown as a department head with almost the identical demeanor of his boss, City Manager Mary Suhm. It becomes even clearer now why she named him - she saw a lot of her own leadership qualities in Brown. I worked for and admired Suhm when she was the first assistant city manager and, after I left the city and former City Manager Ted Benavides announced his retirement, I used my position as head of a neighborhood chamber of commerce to lobby extensively among council members I knew well to name Suhm as Benavides' successor.

Suhm was (and I imagine she still is) a tough boss, but she led by example. She had her detractors on the staff, many of them in high places. But she got the job done and she continues to get the job done.

Schutze says much the same about Chief Brown in his column; i.e., being an effective leader and winning a most popular contest among those you lead do not have to go hand-in-hand.

Schutze also articulates perfectly what I felt about the entire funeral procession/police escort flap: When the decision is between standing on formality or getting the job done, you go for that second option every time. And, frankly, it scares the hell out of me that some members of our police force take the opposite position.