... managing cities

- Decisions in City Hall - Buffalo News Editorial

The importance of a chief executive officer surrounding himself or herself with extraordinarily competent department heads cannot be overestimated. Because large enterprises can't be managed by one person, the CEO's effectiveness in choosing smart, talented and efficient persons to provide support can be the number one reason for the success of a business -- or the success of a mayor, county executive or governor.

There are tried and true practices for recruiting department heads. They are known, and proven to produce the best candidates.

Mayor Byron W. Brown has ignored these practices in favor of a political one, and now he and the people of Buffalo are paying a high and unnecessary price for his failed actions. Karla Thomas must be removed from her human resources leadership post immediately, and the city must stop paying benefits to dead people, and Brown's approach to selecting department heads also must go.
The prominent figure assisting the mayor is Steve Casey, a determined political operative who figures heavily in the selection of administration posts. That's dead wrong.
To be fair, there are some very competent city department heads, and there are some in City Hall who say the appointment of Thomas was opposed by Casey, who apparently couldn't make his objections stick. There is little argument, though, that politics played the key role in her selection.
Of course, things are tough all over:
- Bell city leaders approve reforms in wake of salary scandal - Los Angeles Times
- A Town Touched by Scandal Withholds Judgment - New York Times
- Integrity commissioner slams Ford - Toronto Sun
- Beatty talks to grand jurors - Detroit Free Press
- AG: No charges in City Hall e-mail purge - Boston Herald
- Probe claims zoning inspector embellished resume to get city job - Chicago Tribune

George Pyle