As you know, a couple of news organizations picked up on this story after DaCola posted. Obviously, seeing the obvious. The mayor is hiring a chief of staff w/o hiring a COS or paying an equivalent wage. It’s even more obvious then his hair plugs* yet it does not stop him from being in a state of denial;
A special projects manager position that was posted this week will report to Mayor Mike Huether but won’t fill the role of chief of staff, the mayor says.
The individual will be responsible for coordinating and executing major city projects such as the events center, railroad relocation and the river greenway, Huether said.
Hey, Mike, there is already people in charge of that crap. Kinda sounds like you are employing a ‘muscle‘ to git er’ done. Greggers says it best;
Although Councilor Greg Jamison didn’t know about the position before it was posted, he said he’s not surprised that Huether is hiring someone.
“Most of us always assumed he would hire a person to help, and he couldn’t name them a chief of staff because of the promise he made on the campaign trail,” Jamison said.
And it’s all about message with smilin’ Mike Mayor Good Folks. Keep it up. The truth doesn’t matter.
*(I have heard rumors about Mike’s obsession with his hair, and the ‘possibility’ of it being a rug. But I really think it is not. Maybe bought and paid for, but not a rug. I think the best comment I heard from someone who sees him on a regular basis was this, “He gets really nervous when you look at it too long.” – His Hair that is – LMFAO!)
I don’t understand how council members can say they were surprised at the mayors hiring of a “NOT Chief Of Staff”. That opening has been there from the beginning when the mayor came forth with his proposed 2011 budget. It’s all right there. Jodi made $108,000 a year. There were 4 mayors office employees in 2010, including Jodi. The proposed budget shows the same number of 4 employees for 2011. Employee salaries for those 4 positions for 2011 is $347,605, only $28,000 less than 2010. My math tells me 108k minus 28k is 80k for someone to indoctrinate the masses on the “need” for a McArena.
Councilors surprised? They had to approve the mayors proposed budget. How could they be surprised if they actually took the time to read it?
In Jamison’s defense, he told me that most of the councilors ‘knew’ he was going to hire ‘someone’ they were just surprised they were not told about the job posting before it went public.