The Move
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On May 13, 1985, a confromation between Philidelphia police and a cult called MOVE resulted in one of the most astounding debacles in the history of American municipal government. After massive gunfire, deluges of water, and explosive charges failed to dislodge the group from there fortified row house, police dropped plastic explosives from a helicopter onto a roof top bunker. The MOVE tragedy severely damaged the reputation of Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode, who until then had been considered an effective manager, a rising star of national politics, and a symbol of hope for his city. The Special investigation commission (PSIC), appointed by the mayor himself, charged that “the Mayor abdicated his responsibities as a leader,” a condemnation sharewd by most informed observers. With Respect to the twelve values Charles Gilbert(1959) identifieds with adnministrative responsibity, Goode and his key subordinates conspicuously failed to satify at least seven -responsiveness, consistency, stability, leadership, competence, efficacy, and prudence. The paper will argue instead that, lamentable though it was, the mayors performance exemplifies universal tendencies well understood by psychologists of decisionmaking. Analysis of the MOVE case therefore can suggest insights that may enable other administrators to recognize and control situations in which they too might otherwise succomb to irresponsible patterns of action and inaction. The origins of MOVE can be traced to the early 1970s in Powelton Village section of West Philadelphia, near the campuses of Drexal University and the University of Pennsylvania. They called themselves the American Christian Movement for Life, but they later shortened the name to MOVE. As they put John Africas philosophy into practice, MOVE generated frequent tension with landlords and neighbors, who complained about members grossly unsanitary practices and their harboring of dogs, cats, rats, roaches, and flies. During the 1970s, a virtual feud developed between MOVE and the Philadelphia police. The mayor of Philadelphia was then Frank Rizzo, a former police commissioner
famous for tough law enforcement. When August 1 came, MOVE refused to leave, because no one had found a site for relocation they would accept.
For five years, MOVE was visible to most Philadelphians only a series of trials. In 1980, nine members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the murder of Officer Ramp, a tenth followed in 1982. In 1981, three