This is one of the few times I totally disagree with one of the Mayor's decisions. When the naysayers take their shots at him for what he's done this time. This is one that I can't help him with. This is clearly a case of favoritism or political patronage. Unlike those who dislike the Mayor and anything he does. I think Joseph Lee should have never quit his job as President of MLGW. He hadn't done anything that hadn't been done all the time. As long as he followed the script. He would've been safe. He quit a $200,000 a yr. job because the media was sweating him. I wrote a blog about it then: http://indepcons.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post.html I wouldn't say this in a public forum, but since this is my blog I will. The Mayor likes to surround himself with those who are about his business. Being his boy can be quite profitable. Ask people like Reginald French and Michael Freeman. Joseph Lee is heavy in the head, but light in the testicles. Let's just say "he lacks testicular fortitude."The Mayor has invested in this man because he is smart. He has the type of mind that he could do any task he was assigned. Some say at every job he has held, he has failed. I contend he has always been placed in the troubled spots. His decisions have never been unproductive, just unpopular. The Mayor gets his plans rolling and Joseph Lee takes the heat. That might explain why he is still in the picture. Now Joseph Lee has been appointed to a cushy job. You can't say he isn't qualified, if anything he's over qualified. No one is walking around with specialized experience for this position. How do you get the experience unless you have the job?
I'm not against the job per say. I just don't think he should give it to Joseph Lee. In a city this size. There is going to be jobs like this. As long as the Mayor has been in office. That inner circle should expand. I think loyalty is a good thing,but there's a limit. There's enough going on that we should see some new faces. When they agreed to pay his legal fees, I was in agreement. Appointing Joseph Lee Deputy Director over the parks, even though it's well within Mayor Herenton's rights. Is a bit in your face. This I disagree with.
Sounds familiar
ReplyDeletePreferential hiring of friends and family
It was revealed that at any given time there are about 100 appointees of Kilpatrick employed with the city. The Detroit Free Press examined city records and found that 29 of Kilpatrick's closest friends and family were appointed to positions within the various city departments. This hiring practice came to be known as 'the friends and family plan'. Some appointees had little to no experience, while others, among them Kilpatrick's uncle Ray Cheeks and cousin Nneka Cheeks, falsified their résumés. Kilpatrick's cousin, Patricia Peoples, was appointed to the deputy director of human resources, giving her the ability to hire more of Kilpatrick's friends and family without it being viewed as a mayoral appointment. Though political appointments are not illegal, the sheer volume of Kilpatrick's appointments compared to all the appointments made by Detroit mayors since 1970, along with Kilpatrick's cutting of thousands of city jobs, make his appointments controversial.[75]
The jobs held by friends and family range from secretarial positions to department heads. The appointees had an average salary increase of 36% compared with a 2% raise in 2003 and 2% raise in 2004 for fellow city workers. Some of the biggest salary increases were for April Edgar, half-sister of Christine Beatty, whose pay increase was 86% over 5 years. One of Kilpatrick's cousins, Ajene Evans, had a 77% increase in his salary same period. The biggest salary increase among the 29 appointees was that of LaTonya Wallace-Hardiman who went from $32,500 staff secretary, to an executive assistant making $85,501—163% in five years.[75]
The city has laid off more than 4,000 city workers and more than 1,000 police officers since Kilpatrick's first term. None of Kilpatrick's friends or family have been laid off.[