Keller Haters Hate Success; Geier a Good Choice to Lead APD

The Tim Keller haters are out in force today, excreting their foul bile all over the internet and Facebook regarding Keller's pick of Interim Police Chief Mike Geier to be the permanent police chief.

Some of the haters have dumped on Geier personally, saying he's part of the Old APD, and that nothing will change under his watch.

Another, a two-time failed mayoral candidate, has called the national search that led to Geier's being hired a sham, apparently because some outsider with a magic wand and the powers of all knowing and flawless deity wasn't brought in to wave the wand and immediately solve all of APD's problems and turn it into a story-book police force that never makes another mistake and lives happily ever after in perfect harmony with the citizens of this community, and even the bugs and flies.

Imagine, we could have had the perfect outsider; a chief who skips to work down sidewalks while singing love ballads, buying bald men toupees and convincing rapists, murderous thugs and other creeps and fiends to go straight.

So who is that magical person who should have gotten the job instead of Geier?

He or she doesn't exist because there's no such thing as the perfect pick or the perfect person.

Here's what Keller said at Wednesday's news conference about the so-called perfect chief:

“There was always this idea that there was some magical person who could be all things to all people and be a new police chief in Albuquerque. People would say, ‘(The police chief would) have to have done all the DOJ reforms, and they’d have to be respected by front-line officers, and they also have to be from outside Albuquerque, but they also have to know Albuquerque.’ The amazing thing about that is the closest person to that is Chief Geier.”

An outsider, even the perfect outsider, would have had to get up to speed on the DOJ reform effort, which the previous administration spent three years trying to obstruct, get to thoroughly know the city, earn the trust of officers and on and on and on. And that would take at least a year, and would leave us another year behind.

Geier is a good choice. He and Keller initially blundered on the bloody underwear case, but they quickly admitted their mistakes, changed APD policy and launched an IA investigation into the case and how and why it was mishandled.

It is quickly admitting mistakes that is the key to success in life and in government. And that's how Keller and Geier are different from any other administration I've covered here in the past 32 years.

In nearly 40 years as a reporter I've also learned at least one thing: it's incredibly easy, actually effortless, to stand on the sidelines and heckle, criticize and ridicule people and ideas. It's a lot harder to make tough decisions and govern.

In his first six months in office, Keller has done a great job. He inherited the mess at APD, and the bizarro ART project, and he's trying to fix both. He's held at least a dozen news conferences on APD, ART and other issues, and has kept the public informed.

That's more than any other administration I've covered has done. And to add to that, Keller understands the role of the news media and thoughtfully answers questions.

As I said, so far, Keller has done a great job.

I know the haters hate that.