Mayor Abandons Ship

I am a member of the Republican Party and I am embarrassed by the goings on in Hamilton. This is not a politically motivated article, just the facts.

“That was no raid”, said the BA of Hamilton this week after his place of employment was raided by the MCPO.  Who in their right mind would make such a statement? Maybe, one can conclude, that the level of criminal activity occuring in Hamilton is so high, a raid is viewed as a flower delivery.  What will the comments be like when the charges of those indicted in the town, are finalized with judge sentencing?  See, it was just a traffic ticket, see it was just 300 dogs killed illegally?” The comments by those leading the town are so far-fetched, but are they?  Not in their eyes, as they focus on one thing, their pensions.

The leadership is avoiding the public. We are at day 57 that the Mayor refuses to answer council to do a town hall. Residents have also made this request, crickets in the garden are all they hear. No response from leadership.

This week as well, the Trentonian did numerous articles on the hanky panky in Hamilton. In the link below, there is an audio of the Mayor. Listen to it, carefully. This is not a good situation for the residents.  This audio demonstrates pure panic in the voice of the leader of Hamilton.

https://www.trentonian.com/news/mayor-yaede-claims-she-has-emergency-avoids-questions-about-hamilton/article_244786c8-d66f-11e9-bf7c-4bdd0dba9065.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwAR3zwOp-yZKv935_PjmR2JrF3S3l5Md8UeuuZgEeU4cvSH5e-nFmAoVNlII

During the raid by the MCPO this week, the Mayor chose to leave the building as this was going on.  The excuse, she had an appointment. NOPE!!! Hogwash alert! Even if that is true, a true leader would have cancelled whatever magic make believe appointment they had to stand with their team. If she has no guilt, she would not have done an Irish goodbye and slipped out stage right swiftly.

The captain goes down with the ship" is a maritime tradition that a sea captain holds ultimate responsibility for both his ship, and everyone embarked on it, and that in an emergency, he will either save them or die trying. You do not exit the building when shit is going down. That is a true sign of a coward.

There have been real captains that abandoned their ships and that did not go over so well, ask Yiannis Avranas, captain of the Greek luxury liner Oceanos, which sank off the coast of South Africa in 1991.  When he ordered abandon ship, he felt it did not matter what time he left. He felt abandon is for everybody.  His logic was, if some people like to stay, they can stay. These  words were spoken by Avranas and he was charged with misconduct after it was discovered that he and numerous crew members left the ship while the passengers remained behind.  The ships entertainment crew had to take over the rescue efforts.

Why can’t the Mayor of Hamilton be charged with misconduct for leaving her ship?  Where is the band to help the employees of Hamilton? The administration is comparing this legal scrutiny to the scrutiny given to the song, Louie Louie in the 60’s by the FBI.  Nothing obscene here….says the administration of Hamilton. We are as clean as Mr. Clean.  

Let’s share one more example of a captain who abandoned ship.  What was supposed to be a routine trip from Norway to Denmark, became one of Europe’s worst ferry disasters after an arsonist set ablaze the Scandinavian Star late one evening. As the fire raged out of control, most passengers were sound asleep in their cabins unaware of their imminent doom.

Those fortunate enough to escape the smoke of their rooms were left dumbfounded and powerless, pondering how to acquire life vests, let alone, survive the sinking ship. The poorly trained crew, many of whom could not speak a common language, only added to the confusion and panic aboard the burning vessel that contained faulty fire alarms, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers. Only adding to the mayhem was the absence of the captain who jumped ship long before any of the passengers. When asked his reasoning for abandoning helpless women and children, Captain Hugo Larsen replied, “Did you want me to drown?”  Did the Mayor of Hamilton leave because she felt she is the most important person in the building and town?  Or was it done in shear panic?  We think her voice in the audio above spells that out.

Captain Hugo was subsequently tried by a Danish court, where he was found guilty of being responsible for inadequate security aboard the Scandinavian Star that claimed the lives of 158 passengers. Hugo was sentenced to 60 days in jail, while two of his crew, a Danish ship-owner and the shipping line director, both received 40-day sentences.  A captain cannot leave the ship.

The Mayor made the choice to leave the building/ship. She also made the choice not to return to the building (if indeed an imaginary friend appointment was occuring that made her leave the building)  These were very bad choices for the employees and residents. When times get tough, real leaders roll up their leaves and make sure their underlings are taken care of, not abandon them. These raids can have a negative influence on the employees. What was done to help them? The BA said, “That was not much of a raid.”

There are many leadership lessons  that can be learned from the Costa Concordia disaster. There are questions of preparation as well as how to handle a crisis in a calm, composed and coordinated fashion. But the biggest lesson in leadership is the most obvious one; that a captain—in this case Captain Francesco Schettino—should never abandon his ship.

What crisis management SOP’s exist in the township?  There is no “dawn raid” SOP? Does the SOP for dawn raids say, Mayor run!

While it is obvious that the examples, we shared are from  cruise ships, the same thing is true of leaders of any organization. You don’t abandon your ship. You don’t turn your back on the people who depend on you for their safety and well-being—whether we are talking your employees or your most valued stakeholders.

Great leaders don’t panic. They have a sense of calm, even in the most dangerous and perilous situation. We saw it during 9/11 with the crew and passengers of Flight 93 that crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. We saw it with Chesley Sullenberger, known as “Sully,” the pilot of the US Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River . A leader’s calm demeanor has a direct impact on the demeanor of others around him. Conversely, when a leader panics, it is obvious that he or she induces panic in others.

CALM down Madame Mayor, talk to the people of Hamilton and stop hiding.  It's time to have courage.  She cannot win  the election this way.  However, she can win if by some stroke of luck she gets through all of this without a handcuff and demonstrates strength beyond belief.  That;s the person residents want for mayor, a leader in the face of a Category 5 huirricane.  There have been mayors in jail in the USA that still got elected while they were in jail. So, no one can underestimate the outcome of the election in Hamilton.

This is going to be interesting to watch.