In today's Joplin Globe, the Editorial Board offered its opinion what the city of Joplin should look for in a city manager.
Judging from the fact that two of the four finalists have already dropped out (or at least one has dropped out and another has been announced as the new city manager in Miami, Oklahoma), we should just hope we don't end up with another Missouri Southern State University situation of a few years back when the only candidate left was Bruce Speck.
The Globe said it was "passing along some of the qualities our readers say they want in a new manager."
Much of what was included in the editorial made sense- until the last paragraph:
Joplin needs a person willing and able to resolve the tough issues that will always be with us. We hope our City Council selects a candidate based on his leadership traits, his ability to hire effective department heads and his desire to communicate to the community he will be serving.
Sorry, but the last thing we want is another leader with a "desire to communicate to the community."
We already have that in the man who holds the job of superintendent of the Joplin R-8 School District..
What this city and this school district needs are leaders who have a "desire to communicate with the community."
That one word makes a big difference.
6 comments:
the fact that the globe worshipped rohr disqualifies stark from commenting on the hiring process.
If the devil himself were hired, the Globe would sing his praises in an effort to curry favor.
The sole newspaper in this area sold its soul in an effort to be fed propoganda rather than work to uncover truth. This does not breed journalists. It propogates obsequious sycophants. (Look it up word smiths at the Globe).
Before the TRD (Turner Response Desk) jumps on this as knit picking, bear in mind the Globe is not supposed to be a high school kid offerng opinions in her blog. Word choice is an essential part of journalism. Even if this is an instance of a genuine oversight (and editorial failure), it is also very telling. All the more reason to scrutinize every word you print.
This is why so many people read and reference this blog. So very good.
Since when is it so prime for our city manager to possess all these wonderful qualities? I could really care less if the city manager speakes at park meetings, or inspires vision by talking a good game. It might be a good thing if at least one requirement would be the knowledge and raw ability to manage. Rohr obviously was severely lacking in this respect as he has left the city in a big mess. Now we basically have only one candidate, of which sounds like he just needs a high paying job to me. Stick with the guy we have for a while, take a little time in selecting a manager. Why is it such a rush? I also wonder if the current city manager is not selected, will he go back to his assistant manager spot? Rohr couldn't handle it on his own, what makes us think a new guy could?
The best city departments are the ones where there isn't much in the way of political favor to be curried; where the people just work.
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