If there is one pivotal lesson when it comes to your job, it’s to never let your personal feelings take over. Ever.
You may feel a certain way about people, religion, or even the company itself you’re working for. But the millisecond you let that creep into your work performance over the duties you’re sworn to follow, it shows. Believe me, it shows. You can have all the opinions in the world, but at the end of the day, you need to do your job and not let personal feelings take over.
But apparently Ron Shinnick didn’t get that message.
Ron is the Mayor of Cohutta, Ga., a small town where the community is very close-knit. Usually, a mayor has no problem relating to the people. But a recent decision on his part – over something personal rather than something pertaining to his duties – has painted him in a whole new way. And a vicious one, at that.
Let me explain.
So last month, several members of the Cohutta Police Department filed a dispute last month, noting several formal complaints against town clerk Pam Shinnick – Ron’s wife. The complaints note that she was creating a “hostile work environment,” which led to her termination.
But apparently, she still had access to information surrounding the residents of the town and even continued to operate as a town clerk. So apparently, Ron had begun swaying his power to keep her somewhat employed, despite her official departure from the job.
Hang on; it gets worse.
This past Wednesday, still fuming over what happened to his wife, Shinnick shut down the entire Cohutta Police Department. All ten employees were laid off without notice (despite procedure calling for them to receive said notice), and that left the 1,000-plus residents without any given police force.
In fact, there was even a sign on the department’s door stating, “The PD has been dissolved, and all personnel has [sic] been terminated.”
Vindictive much, Mayor Shinnick?
This was completely a power move, a knockdown served by a vengeful man who refused to hear that his wife had done wrong. And one that left a bigger effect on the community than anyone could possibly imagine.
But, as we’ve seen in the past, you never go against community. Especially when personal feelings are on the line.
Just two days after Shinnick’s blatant move, the Cohutta Town Council got together and reversed his decision. As a result, the full team of officers has been reinstated and provided back pay. This came from the vice mayor, who knew just how corrupt Shinnick’s move was.
In addition, there was also a measure put in place preventing the mayor from taking any further action against the officers, at least for the next 30 days. What will happen to that is beyond me, but I certainly hope Shinnick heard the message loud and clear – corruption, especially something as blatant as protecting your poor-performing wife, will not be tolerated.
While I am satisfied with this result and happy to see the police force back in action, there is one thing that disappoints me.
During this Town Council meeting, there was another motion put in place – a proposal to remove Mayor Ron Shinnick from his seat. That apparently has been tabled for now, though there is a chance it could be revisited in the future.
To which I hope it certainly will be. Again, I can’t see how this doesn’t serve as an example of someone’s personal feelings taking over their position of power. Imagine if a man were accused of striking a police chief’s wife (even if he likely didn’t, because that’s just a stupid move), and before gathering any evidence against him, the police chief decides to take revenge and send his men after him. Sounds horrible, right?
That’s what Shinnick did. Rather than accept the fact that his wife was doing a poor job as town clerk, he not only arranged to have her resources kept in place, but he fired the entire police department – without warning – and left the town defenseless. All because he couldn’t stand being proven wrong.
I do hope the Town Council comes back around and gives Shinnick his due. What’s next? Is he going to arrest citizens who make fun of his wife? Is he going to close a grocery store that refuses to bag her goods correctly?
The sworn duty of a mayor is to take care of all citizens. Not just personal people. All citizens. And that includes the police force. If you’re not going to do that and just hold someone close to you on a pedestal, you don’t deserve to have an office position. End of story.
Get rid of Shinnick.
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