Police chief selection wasn’t fair

Regardless of how wellintended Miami Mayor Francis Suarez may have been and how strongly he believes Houston’s Police Chief Art Acevedo is the perfect choice for the city, to justify avoiding his full participation in a transparent and fair selection process is plain wrong.

The mayor told the Miami Herald’s Editorial Board that secrecy was essential to close the deal and not embarrass Acevedo or the mayor of Houston should things not work out.

But this is a slap in the face to the Miami community, including city employees, elected officials and those who participated in the selection process at every level of its development and execution.

Worse, it is a huge blow to all qualified applicants who followed the rules and participated in the vetting process, fully knowing that they might not be selected.

The message this selection sends is that rulescan be broken if the prize is considered noteworthy and a feather in the suitor’s cap.

Since when is it OK for any government to shield a favored competent contender from public scrutiny?

What about the applicants who trusted this was an above-board competitive process?

Is it justified for them to risk being embarrassed and cavalierly discarded while the mayor’s champ gets the red carpet rolled out?

This was not the mayor’s deal to make. It could have been a fair, collective decision. Acevedo, too, deserved better.

Why set him up even before he takes on the hard work before him because he was not given the opportunity to compete before everyone’s eyes?

Certainly, this will not serve as an example of how Miami attracts the best minds and most competent individuals to public service.

– Mikki Canton,

Coral Gables