Thursday, September 10, 2009
Prosecution exhibit 10.05.06
As I've said many times before, I doubt any laid off city employees blamed the mayor for the 2005 layoffs; the mayor only did what he had to do. By the same token, I don't understand the constant need to praise the mayor for his brilliant decision to tread water. However, once the mayor was forced to slash the city payroll, I saw no effort to put the city's remaining resources where they would do the most good. I looked and looked and tried to figure out exactly what the mayor's priorities were, but I honestly couldn't find any sign that the mayor could be bothered to take the time to set priorities. IMO, it went beyond mere incompetence to the level of simply not giving a sh**.
By itself, Thursday's editorial about police recruiting might not seem related to my point. However, it reminded me of an old article I've cited repeatedly in the past. To read the entire article scroll down to page 5 of this pdf:
By itself, Thursday's editorial about police recruiting might not seem related to my point. However, it reminded me of an old article I've cited repeatedly in the past. To read the entire article scroll down to page 5 of this pdf:
Starting a wide-ranging recruitment campaign, with the goal during the next couple of years of hiring 250 to 350 officers -- the number Stellingworth said will be necessary to accommodate normal attrition levels -- will be a key test of the city's bureaucracy, depleted of money and personnel.
Stellingworth said he has concerns about launching a major marketing initiative when he doubts the civil service agency can handle an influx of applicants.
"Civil Service has to be up and functional to do that process," he said.
Making do with less
Despite losing about two-thirds of its staff, Mike Madary, a top official at the Civil Service Department, said the agency will do its best to aid police recruitment, which has been a top priority for at least a decade.
"We will do everything we can," he said.
While two staff members handled police applications before Katrina, just one person was hired back into that job, and not until March, when the department started seeking new employees. Madary said that if the agency runs into trouble processing applications, it could ask the administration for more staff.
