The Unintended Consequences

Last
night, I attended Dormont’s Council Meeting, and spoke in favor of restoring Jim
Burke to Sergeant on the Dormont Police Department. The text of my address to
council follows, and if you care to read it, that’s fine. The point of this blog
is Unintended Consequences. When I addressed Council last night, I truly didn’t think they were going to entertain a change to the agenda. Gene Barilla spoke his mind, and was very supportive of Jim Burke. He even made a motion that the agenda be changed to allow a straight up or down vote on Jim’s restoration of rank. Ouch! I was there not only to support Jim Burke, but to hopefully plant a seed that would grow into sergeant stripes. Gene’s motion to amend the agenda ended in a 3-3 tie, with one abstention. The Mayor broke the tie by voting NO to the amendment.

At first, several folks looked at Tom Lloyd as though he had lost his mind. Even
Gene asked why he voted no. Tom’s answer, which was essentially “because I can”,put an end to further discussion at the February council meeting, and, yes,
that’s a good thing.

Councils generally don’t like to go off agenda. That’s because the agenda items have been discussed in executive session, and council members, the solicitor, the Chief of Police (welcome back, Phil) and the Mayor are then informed, and can make an informed decision. Going off agenda, unless the path is very clear (for example, changing the agenda to accept Mr. Rizza’s resignation, which was a done deal on Rizza’s part) can lead to an uninformed vote, or perhaps one based on passion and not on fact.

Dormont’s Mayor wasn’t attending his first rodeo last night. By voting NO, he forces the issue of Jim Burke’s sergeant’s stripes to committee meetings, and hopefully an informed consensus, and an agenda item and a vote to restore Jim at a future council meeting.

In retrospect, I probably should have considered that at least one council person
might take up the banner and run with it when I encouraged council to take
immediate action. So, kudos to Gene Barilla for passionately supporting
Jim, and kudos to Tom Lloyd, who prevented so much as even the possibility that
council might have voted not to restore Jim Burke’s rank.

Darn those “unintended consequences”. Please consider this an apology to Jim Burke. I may have hurt him while trying to help him!

That said, I feel very confident that Council will make this a priority item, and I’m
looking forward to seeing Jim Burke wearing stripes very soon. As I said, if you
want to read my message to Council, go ahead. It’s a matter of public record,
and I stand by it. I sure should have left the word “tonight” out of it, though.

I’m Master Sergeant John DeLallo, United States Air Force Reserve, retired. I reside
(street address redacted), in Bethel Park. The correct ZIP code is Pittsburgh
15234.

Good evening. I’d like to thank council for the opportunity to address the issue of
restoring James Burke to his rank of sergeant. I extend a special thank you to
Mayor Lloyd, my comrade in arms for 14 years, and fellow retired Air Force
senior noncommissioned officer.

By any measure, a man’s worth must be judged by his deeds and his principles. We’re here tonight to speak about principles, character, and Duty, Honor, Country, and of course community. I moved to Dormont in 1974, shortly after the end of the
Vietnam War, and was welcomed by many folks. Over time, I had an opportunity to
teach less lethal self-defense to Dormont’s women, working side by side with the
Police Department. I had an unsuccessful run for council, but took away an
appreciation of how hard our public servants work. I was asked to serve as a
community representative when Dormont required a new police officer. In calendar
year 2000 my job here in Pittsburgh evaporated, and I moved to Johnstown. My
appreciation for Dormont trebled. I mention these few things to give you a
flavor of why I feel compelled to come back to Dormont and defend the honor and
character of an old friend.

Jim Burke is a fine man. He has been faced with sorrow, as his wife’s mother and
father passed away. He has been faced with personal adversity, as his wife’s
health issues worsened. A lesser man may have cashed in his chips and walked. It
is not in his character to walk away. He has been severely injured in the line
of duty, and I was frankly surprised that he ever returned to work, but it is
not in his character to walk away. He has been singled out by an overzealous
critic, who, with the backing of the past council, has put him in a bad light
for nearly 8 months. A lesser man would have walked away, but it is not in Jim
Burke’s character to walk away. Sergeant Burke mentored my son Matt, who has
been a police officer in Brentwood for 15 years. They share membership in the
Emerald Society. Jim Burke has proven time and time again that he is firm, but
fair. He, and others on the Dormont Police Department, helped defuse an
increasingly hostile situation when I lived on Tennessee Avenue, effecting
arrests and removing undesirables from the community.

I very respectfully ask that you restore, tonight, James Burke to the rank of
Sergeant, retroactive to the date of his demotion, with full pay and benefits
lost over these 8 months to be paid to him at once. I ask that his demotion be
expunged from his personnel file.

In closing, Theodore Roosevelt wrote of critics, of those who stand in judgment
having never walked in a man’s shoes. He wrote a tome sometimes called Valor,
and sometimes called The Man in the Arena:

Valor

It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit
belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust,
and sweat, and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and
again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; but who
actually strives to do the deed, who knows the great devotion; who spends
himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the high achievement
of triumph and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly knows his place
shall never be with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory or
defeat.                                                           
Theodore Roosevelt

You too, members of council, can take your place among those with valor by bravely stepping forward, making a motion to restore Sergeant Burke, and voting
unanimously in the affirmative.