Friday, July 30, 2021

Diversity in Anoka County's government - the Board of Commissioners debates and acts.

Local reporting link. A point worth thought:

“We hire who are the most capable and talented,” Look said.

From a viewpoint of bang for the buck spending, is that better than anything else?

Is the answer that simple, if such hiring results in employee demographics askew from community demographics? Is the Look statement an ideal, or an actuality?

Many a slip twixt cup and lip? The hiring of Rhonda amid residency questions while she effortlessly moved from Board Chair to top administrator - "most capable and talented"? How hard did her peers on the Board really look for more capability and sounder talent, given how good the pay rate is? The recollection at Crabgrass is it appeared to be a done deal with a fig leaf "search" attached.

________UPDATE_______

We can speculate forever, but would the Board have hired Rhonda with/without the only-an-after-thought fig leaf search, if it in turn looked like this? Doubtful. Very doubtful. 

Aside from Ms. Meisner and her predecessor, and with a gender mix, the county electorate sure "hired" abject uniformity, at the ballot box, whatever else you can observe or guess. A uniformity that makes me gag, but I only have one vote, in one board district, where incumbency shouts "term limits" to me, but not to a majority of others. We are blessed to have Meisner. Who does not go along to get along, instead stating her mind. Voting her conscience.