Purely referring to the concept of not talking about the elephant in the room, how was Donna Owens’ role as creator of the recycling program demonstrated in the Totes McGoats coming out party the other night? I was stuck in Charlotte, NC after spending a weekend in the losing Superbowl City’s epic-center, so I missed it, but I heard there were no words spoken by our city’s top paid executive. I said before I would not make this my quest, but, damn, why hasn’t anyone else even written a letter to the editor about the absolute lack of participation in anything by our City Administrator?
They don’t let her talk (much) at council meetings, the Mayor speaks for her. At the last meeting I attended, she introduced a website designer to explain his progress on the City website, then sat down. She introduced Brooke D’Angelo to go over recycling numbers, then they asked the Modern representative to explain further. She spoke down to all local business owners attending a meeting when she first “rolled out” her program, and that was the last we’ve heard from her. Most people I have spoken to about this (actually all) shake their heads in disbelief at the amount of money being spent on a salary for a person who has yet to convince anyone I know that she has accomplished anything. They cut her salary and she stayed. When the Mayor announced he is reviewing managerial positions at City Hall, most thought this was his chance. Nada.
Can someone back me up, or just tell me I’m imagining this and shut up? We are paying top dollar for a person who alienates herself from every opportunity set in front of her. The rest of City hall personnel have to step up and do her job, speak for her, and protect her. Not only is her salary a waste of City money, but look at the opportunities we are missing with not having the right person in her place. We need someone who can run a city, not decorate City Hall. We need someone with relationships, someone developers would be anxious to meet and work with. We need someone to be proud of.
Please comment for the good of our City or just to shut me up.
There’s no irony Bill. When you constrain people to a small tote for Garbage, remove most of your businesses from Garbage service you are guaranteed to have your garbage tonage go down. When you start providing citizens giant totes at their house to put recyclables in your recyclables will go up. Before when everyone including businesses had trash service but poor if any recycling service everything went in the trash. I know a lot of sixth graders that could have 1. devised this same plan with the same result because it’s frankly being done across America arguably better. 2. done a better job of publicizing it all from the get go through social media (those 6th graders do more on snap chat than I do on facebook) 3. came up with a mascot sooner taken him around to places sooner and provided him with a more engaging delivery but no one would hire a 6th grader as city administrator. So the Mr. Avery’s point why have we hired someone who seems less able than a 6th Grader?
The irony is the broad plan has increased recycling, has lowered unit cost of trash and the Management of the City can’t celebrate a win because they have done a terrible job of dealing with perception.