Dear Editor:
I am responding to Mr. Sawicki’s Letter to the Editor: Chelsea Update letter to the editor what does $45,000 in Chelsea Taxpayer money buy?
This past summer the City of Chelsea ordered an investigation and then an audit on our police department.
Why? Not to “punish the police for doing their job” as stated by Mr. Sawicki, but in fact, to-do what all the highest performing organizations do: seek opportunities to be even better. These reviews allow us to take a deep dive in formulating an understanding of our police department, so we as citizens can understand where we are as a City with our police and to see what we are doing right and where we can improve.
The City of Chelsea Annual Police budget is the single largest city expenditure costing about $2.2 million annually. The city acted in good faith as stewards of our tax dollars, to the citizens and to the police by asking for an outside review to get an independent perspective on our Police Department.
Mr. Sawicki’s then finds it necessary to comment and bring up “Chelsea One World One Family outfit and its Black Lives Matter allies” and he goes on in the next sentence stating that city council supported “social justice” by showing contempt for our Law Enforcement.
His comments speak for themselves.
The audit is not “contempt for our law enforcement” as Mr. Sawicki states, and the audit was not an investigation to “find violations of any kind by our police” as he further states. His facts are simply false.
It should be noted that Mr. Sawicki was correct in saying that the citizens “are concerned about infrastructure and city services and unity.”
However, his latest comments are irresponsible as a candidate for Chelsea City Council.
Michael Townley
Chelsea
