Yours truly with our new police chief, Stacey Graves. I have been trying to gauge what I think of her since her promotion a few months ago, and when I found there would be a welcome reception for her close by, I decided that would be an excellent opportunity to maybe make my mind up a little.
Beings that I trend heavily on the introverted side of the spectrum, I loathe such meet and greet functions. To be blunt, I would rather have a tooth pulled then go to a social mixer where I don’t already know at least some people. By the time I convinced myself to go, it was mostly over.
What I remember most about the less than an hour that I was there, however, was not being awkwardly off to the side by myself; debating about how long (or if) I would stay as I had apparently missed whatever remarks or comments she was planning on making that night. Nor was it trying to look as if I was totally comfortable standing around with a handful of other strangers waiting for my moment to speak a few words to her.
Nope. What stands out the most in my memory banks was her gracious good humor when I asked for a photo. She even worked the phone herself to make sure we got a good “twosie” together.
Cleaning the proverbial house after the last police chief is likely to be a huge undertaking, and the jury is still out if she is up to the task; there has already been at least one missed opportunity to start rebuilding trust.
But….well……here’s to hoping that a lot of people, myself included, are pleasantly surprised.
