I read with interest the lead story in today’s OA concerning the meeting with the T2 contractor and the City Council to lay out the characteristics they would like to see in a new city manager.
The process sounds just like the process Dr. Bob Brescia and I have used for years in working with local nonprofit organizations.
We would certainly have been willing to do it for a lot less than $338,000. I was also interested in reading the various characteristics each council person thought important.
It occurs to me that with many of them, the council would be wise to apply to themselves. It might make for a better run city. While everything mentioned is important, in my opinion, the most important will be an individual who understands people, can recognize their abilities, put them in the right place, and then let them do their jobs.
A city manager cannot know everything and do everything, but they can ask questions and recognize when they are being BS’sd. While it may not be so, the mayor’s comments on education leaves the appearance that he is lobbying for the interim city manager to get the job.
I would love to see the RFP that was developed and used to hire T2 under the FOIA, but I am sure the city would deny the request and refer it to the Attorney General for an opinion. Transparency is not one of our council’s attributes.
Charles Cotten
Odessa
