The significance of the secrecy.

APS fired a senior administrator without giving him a few hundred thousand dollars to leave quietly.

This is actually a step forward for the leadership of the APS.
This is in fact, the first time in my memory, that they fired
a senior administrator on the spot, and didn't soften the firing
with a cushion of cash.

Stakeholder faith in the leadership of the APS would have grown.

Why then, did they keep the firing secret until Larry Barker
got wind of it and exposed the whole thing to the light of day? link

Is this just the knee jerk reaction; the first inclination of
the leadership of the APS when the shit hits the fan? link

APS Deputy Superintendent Tom Savage's first order
to employees after the scandal in the APS Police Department
came to light, was to order employees to keep their mouths shut.

If one's top priority is always to keep a lid on things,
one's top priority cannot also be to fix the problems
on which, the lid must be kept.

The leadership of the APS had a chance to improve their
reputation with stakeholders. They had a chance to prove
to stakeholders that there really are consequences for even
senior administrators in the APS. And they blew it.

There is only one reason not to tell the truth.
And that is when the truth is worse than the lie.
Winston Brooks' administration still assigns the top priority
to keeping the truth from stakeholders.

And we cannot trust people who's top priority is to
keep us from finding out the inconvenient truth.

They had a chance to be honest with stakeholders, and
they chose instead to see if they could fire the second in
command in a Division in turmoil, without anyone noticing.



They failed, and now they look as bad as they ever have.

Worse;

if that is even possible.