Recent Stories with tag committee

If all goes well, the World Cup would look something like this.

The FIFA World Cup is quickly approaching, and countries around the world are gearing up to watch their teams compete. Although football (soccer) is not as popular in the U.S. as it is worldwide, attention to the sport is growing.

This year, American fans are getting ready to cheer on their team, especially with recent news that they may have something even bigger to look forward to in 2018 or 2022--the hope of hosting the tournament for the second time. Germany, France, Italy and Mexico are the only countries to have ever hosted twice in the tournament’s almost-80-year history. This time around, Bill Clinton’s chief advisor Doug Band is giving the U.S. a serious chance at becoming fifth on this list.

Band is the latest addition to the Board of Directors for the U.S. Bid Committee. While the magnitude of the World Cup enticed a lot of high profile individuals to join the Board of Directors (such as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger), having the relatively lower-profiled Doug Band as the face of the committee may just give the U.S. their biggest bargaining chip yet.

Band has helped implement philanthropic initiatives in over 170 countries. His work through the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has helped raise millions of dollars for relief efforts thus touching thousands of lives. His reputation precedes him throughout other countries and he is respected by them for his efforts. Having him represent the U.S. bid will help promote America as a great location to host the World Cup by highlight his international endeavors and demonstrating the embrace Americans have for diverse cultures....

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The Seattle Police Chief Search Committee has named eleven candidates for Seattle's top cop spot, and it's time to narrow the field to three. Being as how the committee is likely worn out after hiring the Police Executive Research Forum to do their looking for them, The SunBreak has decided to handicap the race. That way, the committee's interviews on May 8 to determine the finalists for mayoral review will likely be just a formality. Here's the tip sheet:

Interim Police Chief John Diaz is one of three candidates from the Seattle Police Department, who obviously have a leg up. His local competition is Clark Kimerer, Deputy Chief of Police and a classics and philosophy student in his Great Books-y St. John's College days, and Jim Pugel, also Assistant Chief of Police and an English major--I feel like these guys may have just tossed their shields in because you need to show interest in advancement. Diaz seems to have the broader command background, but if you pick him, Kimerer and Pugel feel sad, which is not the Seattle way.

Anne Kirkpatrick, possible ardent anti-communist

That's why smart money is on Anne Kirkpatrick, Spokane's Chief of Police, who "maintains a home in Seattle." Pluses: Spokane hasn't burned down, and she may get a subliminal boost from a name that's similar to Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the "ardent anti-communist." 

Our next group is made up candidates who would bring "experience" and are motivated to leave their present post: Rick Braziel, Chief of Police from Sacramento; Adam Burden II, former Assistant Chief of Police from Miami; and Ronald Davis, Chief of Police from East Palo Alto. If you subscribe to the Seattle Times view that we are a city under siege, you would look hard at this bunch (except I think Capitol Hill has more people than East Palo Alto). They've seen la guerre. Sacramento, man. That's in the shit.

Finally, the pack has some auslanders, which may make culture clash a significant issue. Seattle is a city second only to San Francisco and Berkeley in terms of requisite pothead-hugging, Officer Friendly-ness. There's the climate, some people just don't take to it. And finally, we don't like outsiders.

So these are wild card choices: Judy Bradshaw, Chief of Police from Des Moines, Iowa; Rick Gregory, Chief Administrative Officer/Acting Public Safety Director from New Castle County, Delaware; John Romero, Chief of Police from Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Lisa Womack, former Chief of Police from Elgin, Illinois. I feel sorry for police chiefs from Iowa and Illinois looking for jobs elsewhere. They may well have mean streets, but honestly, your first thought is "Corn thieves?"