[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Gn0e7kvTA[/youtube]
Don: Will you replace department heads and if so how many?
Mike: There’s 12 department heads that are appointed by the mayor ultimately I want to get to know these people even in a stronger way, find out what their strengths and weaknesses are, what they believe the opportunities and issues are of their departments, but ultimately Don there will be some changes among that senior team.
Huether wouldn’t disclose which department heads will be replaced, but is evaluating each one of them right now.
Well here is my best guess.
It is probably safe to say that Jodi Schwan (COS) and Bob Admundson (City Attorney) will no longer be working for the city after May 17. But don’t think that those two are the only ones leaving. There is still a possibility that Jodi could get a job in another department, like media services, if that does not happen, she will probably resign on her own accord. Bob was filling in as a ‘favor’ to Munson and will most likely go back into retirement. If I had to guess about another likely volunteer resignation it would probably be Eugene ‘Montgomery Burns’ Rowenhorst. He also was working for long time friend, Munson. He may stick around for a few months to help with the transition and the 2011 budget, but who knows.
Now here is where it gets tricky. There is no doubt there will be other replacements, but the council must also approve these replacements. A big one will be City Planner, Mike Cooper. Mike has had a lot of criticism over the past few years from the council. Mainly because he has been caught several times hiding information from the council. He also is responsible for the code enforcement mess, and what a mess it is. Since both Mike and Mike have very strong personalities, ahem, I just don’t see the two working together, that, and the new council may look at his past shananigans as a good reason to give him the boot. Trust me, if Huether decides to replace Cooper, this could be a battle, Cooper has many allies in the community. Personally, if I was Huether, he would be my first target, and I would not mess around, I would do it right away like pulling off a bandage.
The Director of Public works is also another replacement option, I’m sure his position will be looked into closely.
Obviously there are directors that will be safe, the chiefs of the PD and FD will likely not be replaced. As well as the Parks Director. While I have not always agreed with Don Kearney, I think he has been a fair director of the parks.
It should be interesting to watch. Who do you think will be fired? Who do you think will resign on their own?
He should fire whoever came up with this new design for South DaCola. Next in line is anyone of the department heads who isn’t 100% committed to open and honest government.
That could end up being 9 of the 12 department heads, but we can’t do another 4 or 8 years of the closed door and under the table shenanigans which have resulted in a bloated budget and an unsustainable trend of growing city debt.
All dept heads are gone. Some can re-apply. Name acting heads and find people who are loyal to you. It will be tough to replace heads 6 months from now when putting a knife in your back!!!
I think Mike will apply standard corporate seminar tactics to his Administration. He’ll bring them all in, ask them about some past issues, ask if they have a plan or vision for the future and make them present it with details. He will look at a lot of financial ratios and payback analysis.
He’s got a balancing act and he knows it. Many Departments, including Finance actually are performing quite well when you compare them to other similar cities. Mike’s a “big picture” guy and as long as what these people say can fit into his big picture their jobs will be safe. Bonus points if they can run a PowerPoint presentation. He’ll look to squeeze value out of every dollar spent, He will want people to show him some “out of the box” thinking, he will look for profit centers and seek out a plan to expand on them.
He will, of course, launch a couple people just to show there’s a new sheriff in town.
We’ll see, I guess.