John Gaccione

Date: 07/31/2021

Subject: Wondering

From: The Memo Desk

Oh for the good old days of yore. Things were so different then. Kensington was a quiet hidden spot tucked away in the East Bay hills and that’s the way most folks liked it.

In a recent ND Politics group, one long time Kensingtonian wondered why we no longer see the Kensington Police patrolling our streets. Wondering further, the citizen asked if the police were woefully understaffed and how many officers are actually on the force now. The rumor that the General Manager has or is about to resign was included adding to the chaos.

All the curiosity and wondering could have been answered with a simple call or a quick email to the police department for an update. Or a visit to the KPPCSD web site for heaven sake. But maybe getting accurate information was not the real intent of the seemly sincere post. Hmmm…what then is the intent?

As folks have seen in the past, posts like this are loaded questions intended to stir up citizen’s agita. This one is aimed directly at the current progressive KPPCSD board. The police department is now understaffed because three officers recently and wisely decided to resign.

The three officers were incompetent and failed to meet the newly instituted professional standards for the department. Supposedly they chose to resign and retain their generous benefits package rather than be fired. They survived on the police force for so long because some Kensingtonians found them pliable and useful.

Ironically, a few of the folks in agreement with the post are the same folks who eagerly supported the three officers. One past director who for years was a defender of the officers responded with a loose barrage of fact and fiction. The snarky response lambasted the current KPPCSD board’s performance. Chutzpah on the past director’s part? You’re darn tootin’!

Kensington citizens certainly need to keep informed of police and fire district issues. But spinning unsubstantiated claims of secret deals and private agendas are sad and familiar reminders of those so-called “good old days”.

“The future ain’t what it use to be.” (Yogi Berra)

Note: Mixing Kensington local politics and satire could result in a whole megillah