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June 15, 2006

Lowell's express search

So this is the thorough nationwide search the citizens of Lowell were promised in the hunt for a new “professional� city manager. If so, it’s the express version.
Tomorrow each councilor will submit five names to City Clerk Richard Johnson. He’ll tally the names over the weekend. The five applicants listed most often among the original 35 (now 34 since one person has dropped out) will become the finalists to succeed City Manager John F. Cox.
By Tuesday, Lowellians will know who is on “The A-List� and who isn’t.
Each councilor now has three days to scrutinize all the resumes, at home or in the SAC Club, before making out a ballot of five confidential selections.
Five? Why not seven?
That’s a basic question, just like this one: What happens if there is a tie among applicants? Who breaks it? And how?
Councilors didn’t ask or answer any of these questions Tuesday night. Maybe they already know there isn’t going to be a tie.
This express process is far from what was originally talked about when Cox handed in his resignation April 24.
Back then, everyone was going to have a say, just like six years ago when Cox was selected from among 55 applicants.
Now, each councilor is going to base his or her selections from what’s written on a piece of paper. There will be no haggling or discussion of qualifications.
By any stretch of the imagination, this is not a unified, professional effort that builds confidence in government.
Imagine, not a single telephone call of research will be made in advance to learn anything about anyone who has submitted a resume. I guess blind trust and gut instincts are all a councilor needs to decide who can or who can’t manage a $282 million municipal enterprise and its 4,000 employees.
Would Donald Trump pick a CEO this way?
Would even the much-maligned Lowell School Committee select a new superintendent this way?
The answer is double no.
Trump would launch a competitive star search and spare no amount of money to find the best talent. OK, picking a city manager shouldn’t be Hollywood, but at least it should be hard work.
Most school boards across the state know how to conduct themselves. When a vacancy occurs, they hire a certified consultant provided by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to guide them through the search process. Interviews with applicants of interest are arranged. It could be three, five or 10. Also, before selecting a new superintendent, board members visit the applicants’ school districts to question peers and colleagues.
Most school boards adhere to a strategic process.
The City Council, on the other hand, is winging it. It comes down to a glance at a mound of overwritten resumes, a test of fuzzy math and then, bingo, here’s the final five.
Granted, a majority of these resumes could be used for therapy by doctors who run the sleep disorder center at Saints Memorial Medical Center. I know because I devoted an entire five-hour night fighting off a semi-conscious state to read every line of every resume.
However, hidden in the morass of black-and-white pages are some gems of candidates’ achievements. Like the former U.S. Navy officer who turned around a bankrupt city of 80,000 while renegotiating every union contract and the woman who runs a $278 million health department for a large eastern city. Will they make the council’s cut?
The public should be made aware of the candidates who end up floating to the surface as well as those who end up as flotsam. For that reason,The Sun is publishing all the candidates’ on its Web site at lowellsun.com.
Some councilors have protested vehemently about this intrusion into their alleged nationwide search. Why? I can only speculate.
But one thing is clear. The anti-Cox council isn’t using as much energy to find a successor as it did to show Cox the door. Since Cox tendered his resignation April 24, the council has met just once in subcommittee to discuss parameters for its manager search. No official guidelines, outside of putting advertisements in several publications, were established until Tuesday night. That’s when councilors approved the “Express Five� process and interview dates, without discussing a single qualification they were seeking in a new manager.
Is this a professional search or a predetermined one?
What do you think?

Posted by JimC at June 15, 2006 10:10 AM

Comments

Posted by: Mr. "Fix" It at June 16, 2006 4:26 PM

Posted by: Call Me Unsuprised and Underwhelmed at June 19, 2006 1:43 PM