# Police board shuffle



## Slim (15 Oct 2005)

*Police board shuffle*

McConnell replaced as chairman

By ROB GRANATSTEIN, CITY HALL BUREAU

http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2005/10/14/1261957-sun.html

Pam McConnell will be resigning today as the chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board. 

After a year at the helm, McConnell will turn the reins over to vice-chairman Alok Mukherjee at today's board meeting. She's hoping to stay on as vice-chairman. 

"I had a really important job to do and I've come to the end of it," she said. "Mission accomplished." 

That mission included picking a new chief, Bill Blair, and training one of the citizen representatives on the board to be the new chairman. 

"It's an appropriate transition and I think Dr. Mukherjee will do an excellent job," Blair said. 

McConnell said she's feeling some relief. Leading the board is like a job-and-a-half, as is being a councillor, she said. That left her little time for her family or herself. 

McConnell's replacement sees her as a mentor and teacher. "It's been amazing how she's moved the board forward," Mukherjee said. 

McConnell said her departure as chairman has nothing to do with Toronto Police Association president Dave Wilson's call for her to resign. She and Mayor David Miller have both said the board chair should be a civilian. Wilson blasted her for bad-faith bargaining on the new police contract and misleading the public on details. 

Former board member Case Ootes said McConnell's departure is long overdue. 

"She's fundamentally a community activist who thought the police should be more of a social agency than a law and order agency," Ootes said. 

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!


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