The Standard-Examiner reports this morning on the development we discussed on Saturday. Boss Godfrey has hired former mayor and councilman Cliff Goff "to improve communications between his administration and the city council."
Among the new information provided in this morning's Scott Schwebke story is the news that Mr. Goff's hiring probably won't bust the city treasury. Goff will be paid a stipend not to exceed $500 a month to cover his expenses.
At least on city council member isn't thrilled about being blind-sided by Mr. Goff's sudden appointment:
City Councilwoman Dorrene Jeske said she isn’t pleased with how Goff was appointed, adding she first learned about it in a Friday e-mail from Godfrey.We think Jeske's points are well taken.
“The mayor’s intentions are good, I think, but it would have been much better if he had approached the council and asked if we were willing to participate instead of arranging this behind our backs,” she wrote Monday in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner.
“He does not have the right to infringe upon our precious time without our approval.
“He should have had council approval to create another position, that of the assistant to the mayor. The manner in which he did this is really demeaning to the council.”
The mayor's retort is of course typically Godfreyesque:
Godfrey told the Standard-Examiner that, in the e-mail to the council announcing Goff’s selection, he requested feedback regarding the appointment, but Jeske didn’t reply.As our readers will recall, Godfrey dropped the news of Goff's hiring late on Friday afternoon. From the tone of Godfrey's email, the decision was a fait accompli. Under the circumstances, it's unlikely that Jeske, or any other member of the council would have had the time or inclination to register objections or suggestions.
Looking at the big picture however, we're keeping our fingers crossed this will all work well. Communication from the mayor's office to the council could stand much improvement. What a delicious irony it would be, we think, if Mr. Goff were to succeed in educating our mayor about the necessity of improving his communications style relative to council business. Having said that, we confess that we're feeling a mite Pollyannaish today.
We had a fairly robust discussion on this topic in the earlier thread; but we'll once again open up the floor for further discussion, now that the Std-Ex has put the story into the print domain.
Don't let the cat get your tongues.
