Our City’s Costly Experiment in Hiring

The evidence of failure in city leadership is no longer anecdotal; it is concrete and costly.

The swimming pool renovation debacle squandered millions of dollars on a project that remains unfinished. And the rapid erosion of civil discourse at council meetings points to a profound failure in management.

These are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a deeper problem: a hiring process that has prioritized the wrong metrics.

The question we must now confront is: Were the criteria for these vital hires focused more on identity than on capability?

This failure extends beyond the city manager. Are the managers in our Public Works and Recreation departments using identity politics as a shield to hide their glaring failures? Their poor decision-making is costing the city real money and degrading the services we depend on.

Diversity is a commendable goal for a modern government, but it becomes meaningless without competence. It is a supplement to qualification, not a replacement for it.

We are now paying the price for that confusion. It is time for the the council to demand a return to a core principle: the most qualified candidate must get the job. Our city’s financial health and operational integrity depend on it.