The only issue to be resolved regarding the position appears to be to what degree of authority the administrator will exercise. This won't be clear for some time, officials say.
What kind of organization (city or otherwise) hires someone for a position that pays at least $70,000 without having a clue of what that person's responsibilities and/or authority will entail?
Why do I have a feeling that what was told to Mr McConachie about his duties and what Schnieder and the COGGsters will actually give him are miles apart?
Who are these nameless "officials" and why are they nameless?
10 comments:
Would someone please fill me in on what SJ's intent is because all I have seen is someone hell bent on keeping the pot stirred. If she was truly concerned with the issues she comments on she would put herself in a position to part of the solution and not the problem. I for one am tired of the negativity promoted by this blog and supported by SJ. I would bet if her best friend were in office she would have a problem. Lighten up, get a life, and relax. It’s not all bad!
BR549,
If you are so tired of it quit reading it!!!
I for one, am tired of people who just accept questionable government practices.
You can change your handle to BR549, but your underlying account is still obvious as the flamer/troll who pounced upon this blog in the past.
Go back to your overlandchat and stay there. Tho your BR549 handle shows you probably have the same intelligence as Junior Samples (which I believe is somewhere in the retarded range).
You say stir the pot. I say watchdog. The only person who usually has a problem with a watchdog is one who intends to steal. In this case, it would be those who benefit from patronage and govt as usual in Overland.
The real question BR549 is why are you satisfied with a local government who hires a person without first establishing that persons responsibilties? When you consider this person is making a big salary, it is even more eggregious.
Old saw anyone?
As I have consistently argued, the effectiveness of any public administration is wholly dependent on the nature of the underlying politics. The difficulty that MTSuit will have for the remainder of his term is that his politics are based on spoils, crony-ism and exclusion which are all at odds with professional administration.
Thus, MT hires a City Administrator but doesn't codify the position's responsibilities. His underlying politics can not handle meritocracy, visibility and inclusion.
If pointing-out the assault on common sense perpetrated by the Mayor is being negative, then call me negative.
"someone hell bent on keeping the pot stirred."
Am I hell bent on keeping the pot stirred? Or are the COGGsters hell bent on keeping the spoils in their possession?
This blog's intentions is a bit of looniness, a bit of fun, and a strong dose of muckraking (thus our two newest members have chosen muckraking-based names).
I would LOVE if there was less "muck" to rake!
Good Gravy,
From what I remember the position is codefied. I think the statement by un-named officials is just a look to what is to come in the future.
I am sure this is why Ol' Empty and gang are pushing Nancy "Rubber Stamp" Allison for the BOA. She will gladly vote on changes to the ordinances to minimize the responsibilities of this position.
If that happens, any guesses on how long until McConachie is updating his resume? Should we have guesses in hours or days?
Article VIII is all about the CA position: qualifications, duties, etc.
Why is there confusion among "officials"?
Reminder that Overland ordinances can be found here.
I am a bit confused, is a CITY ADMINISTER some sort of religious title, isn't there a separation between church and state?
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Plato was the first and greatest of all opponents of the open society. To Plato, things of this world are corruptible copies of perfect ideals. A copy may be good or bad, but what is certain, Popper wrote, is that "every change, however small, must make it different, and thus less perfect, by reducing its resemblance to its Form."
From that premise, Plato derives a deeply reactionary view of historical development: "All social change is corruption or decay or degeneration." From that premise a political conclusion directly follows: Plato "certainly believed... in a general historical tendency toward corruption, and in the possibility that we may stop further corruption in the political field by arresting all political change."
Plato was not content to talk in generalities. He provided a blueprint of an ideal state and it is not democracy. It is a martial, hierarchical regime headed by a philosopher-ruler. The regime's administrators and enforcers would be a military-bureaucratic elites, specially trained, and specially privileged.
Plato's hierarchy remains stable and pure only so long as the administrative class remains uncorrupted and united; otherwise, the state will fall victim to decadence or infighting. The elites are thus not to mingle with the common people, so as not to go soft.
Plato's instincts were incorrigibly human: grounded in simplicity, stability, and the comforts of the known. But the open society stands unalterably opposed to Plato's vision. The open society replaces personal and tribal bonds with shifting and abstract ones; it replaces the comforts of apparent stability with the turmoil of all-too-obvious change.
And so the open society introduces what Popper called "the strain of civilization." He said: "This strain, this uneasiness, is a consequence of the breakdown of the closed society. It is still felt even in our day, especially in times of social change.... We must, I believe, bear this strain as the price to be paid for every increase in knowledge, in reasonableness, in co-operation, and in mutual help, and consequently, in our chances of survival." For, Popper said: "There is no return to a harmonious state of nature. If we turn back, then we must go the whole way -- we must return to the beasts."
Finewine,
I think we would all like to give the CA a chance. It appears we have hired a great, quality and qualified individual. However, I think there are those who already want to minimize the role of the CA.
I believe HR duties, including salaries, are part of the responsibilities of the CA.
suzy and finewine,
do you think there is a tie between those who are paid high salaries and those who want to limite the job of the ca?
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