‘Chief’ Carter could be best thing to happen to ‘city manager’ Austin

By WARREN BOLTON - Associate Editor

I’VE GOT two words for those who say Columbia city manager Charles Austin needs to pay more attention to running the city’s administration and stay out of Police Department affairs.

Tandy Carter.

If the city’s new police chief is able to rebuild morale, build strong relationships with diverse communities and keep the peace across the city, he would have done his job — and he would have put the man many of us have so long respected and admired as “Chief Austin” in position to, once and for all, be “city manager Austin.”

For sure, recommendations from a group of USC professors, which call for organizing the police and other departments into bureaus and putting some distance between Mr. Austin and those divisions, will help.

Mr. Austin said he will lump all the city’s public safety agencies under one bureau as suggested in the USC review of the city’s organizational structure.

The new bureaus — public safety, administrative resources, public works and utility services and community and neighborhood services — each would be led by an assistant city manager, who would report directly to Mr. Austin. The bureau of public safety would include the fire department, police department, 911 Communications and Homeland Security.

The USC review said the new structure would “help lessen the perception that the City Manager is heavily involved in the operation of the Police Department.”

While reports have accused City Council and Mr. Austin of interfering with the police department, I’m far less worried about him meddling needlessly than his seven elected bosses.

And, quite frankly, putting an assistant city manager over the various departments, while it’s fine, doesn’t prohibit Mr. Austin or any future city managers from interfering if they choose to.

It’s Mr. Austin’s job to be involved at some level, regardless of the structure. Mr. Austin still is boss over the person who would oversee police, and he does hire and fire the police chief.

That said, the new system would make someone else immediately responsible before problems reached Mr. Austin, which means he would be freed up to attend to city- and council-related matters.

That’s not been the case in recent years. As the city and the police department have encountered problems, Mr. Austin has gotten his share of criticism, sometimes deservedly so. The police department has endured a cheating scandal, had its chief of only three years leave abruptly and dealt with morale problems. In addition, the city has had to deal with bookkeeping problems and bad exposure for a botched job of building a new homeless shelter, among other things.

It would have been enough for Mr. Austin to handle his duties as city manager. But I recently learned that he spent tons of time — not of his own will, but just to keep the ship afloat — putting out constant fires at the police department.

Even if he thinks so, Mr. Austin can’t be police chief and city manager at once.

That’s why I believe the best thing the city has done recently is hire a new police chief who many think will make the department his own and take it to a new level:

Tandy Carter.

If he succeeds, and many predict he will, Charles Austin will finally be able to shed the label of “chief” that he’s had so long and become “city manager.”

I thought that would happen under former Chief Dean Crisp. Chief Crisp was likable enough, and crime in the city decreased under his leadership. But, for some reason, he didn’t catch on in the community. While there were some who liked him a lot, there were others who had serious concerns about the direction of the department under him, and they were vocal about it.

So, after Mr. Crisp had taken some heat for allegedly shoving an officer — nothing came of it — and carrying family and friends to a crime scene, he abruptly retired.

With Mr. Austin around, it’s natural for people to look to him to step in when there is even the smallest problem at the police department that he led for 13 years.

Of course, that’s not the way it should work. People shouldn’t call him, and he shouldn’t interfere in the workings of the police department. I’d think if he wanted to be police chief, he would have applied for the job.

Columbia needs an effective, strong police chief who can carve his own place in the hearts and minds of citizens.

Frankly, we’ve never moved beyond the “Chief Austin” era.

Citizens must give this new administration a chance. When you’ve got a problem with the police department, don’t call Mr. Austin or council members. Call Chief Carter.

Yes, Mr. Austin did the job of police chief well, at the highest level. The fact he has that knowledge is a plus, considering he oversees the chief. But if people automatically look to him instead of the current chief, that plus becomes a liability.

While Mr. Austin will always be known as “Chief” — I still call him that sometimes myself — it must be only as a term of endearment and recognition of his past faithful service.

There’s only one police chief in Columbia, and that’s Tandy Carter. That’s a good thing, because it gives city manager Austin no excuse for not effectively overseeing Columbia’s day-to-day operations.

Reach Mr. Bolton at (803) 771-8631 or wbolton@thestate.com