TRANSCRIPTION:  Frank Linth comments At May 24, 2007 Sultan Council Meeting Re Sultan's Police and its Chief, Fred Walser

(audio of statement)

"The City of Sultan is on the threshold of making a huge decision concerning the police service.  There'll be long-ranging effects, and there will undoubtedly, however it goes, be repercussions.  Members of this council have been charged with the responsibility to handle this task in the manner that the knowledge, insight and experience direct, and I'm  confident they're going to make the right choice.

I would ask you keep something in the forefront, and forgive me for restating the obvious. The police department holds an unenviable and unworthy position; like the guy who doesn't have the job of driving the train, but it's his fault when it jumps the track:  Either everything is okay, or you're in the dog house. And not often enough do these individuals receive the accolades that they deserve, and this police department enjoys the privilege of some exceptional people on staff. And I see three of them over on the right.  And on this occasion, sort of an auspicious occasion, I guess, I wish to single one of them out: Chief Walser.

He's an extraordinary person and I'd like this on the record. He's a consummate cop and an exceptional leader. My interactions with him have been limited…. If I was younger, I'd say that's a good thing, but in my experience is he's just truly a remarkable individual.  But doing the right thing, he's tenacious, he's a bulldog.  He will not quit.  He truly loves people.  He loves this community, and he loves the job that he does best.  What I'm expressing here is just an opinion, but if you were to ask around you'd find others with the same level of respect and esteem.  And people as highly placed as the Governor's office, all the way out to residents of the Sticker-Patch.  And I'd like to point out that that in itself is remarkable.  He's incredible resourceful; he's proven that time and after time, and maybe there lies the rub, or a rub.  If there's a shortage of funds, he figures out a way to make do with what he has.  If there's a shortage of personnel, he figures out a way to spread the load to keep the boat afloat.  He's done it time and time again, and he has, in fact, done so much so many times with so little, getting by, doing so much with so little that it almost seems like he can do almost anything with almost nothing.  And I wonder, to that end, if he realizes that he almost became his own liability, and maybe he did, to some extent.  Because I wonder if we really know in this community does it cost to run a police department?  Because he has consistently done it for less.

Whatever decision as to where the police department ends up, this one thing remains:  There are always negative things that can be said, there are always fingers that can be pointed, but there are many positive things that can be said about this community, where it's at, where it's been, and especially where it's going.  And many of those things can at least in part be attributed to the fine work and tireless sense of duty of one police chief, Fred Walser.  Thank you.