[Steve_Seattle]

"He must be someone’s cousin or has damaging info on someone."

I am now retired, but throughout my career as a City of Seattle employee, there always seemed to be one person whose success was a complete mystery. They rose through the ranks with no apparent talent, and usually ended up as a manager managing no one, a "special assignment" person who never seemed to be involved in anything of significance.

It sometimes turned pout that these people had a romantic relationship with someone in a position of power. I remember only one situation in which it backfired; a manager got a woman pregnant and began appointing her to positions for which she was increasingly unqualified. When it came out that he had cheated on one or more of the hring processes, they were both booted.

[Don W]

I had an assistant like that. Came from another department and was constantly making the most blatant idiotic errors, yet I couldn’t get rid of him. He was hauled off my site in cuffs 3 times, yet we couldn’t send him away. This went on for 4 years. He finally retired (with FULL benefits and pension), after an outside person made an accusation that stuck.

Some folks fall into the cesspool and still come out smelling like a rose. I really don’t know how, but there it is...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

In civil service you can advance by taking written exams. A lot of civil serpents are good test takers, poor workers.