Posted on 09/17/2008 2:50:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
Excerpt -
A part of the current problems with recovery from the ravages of Hurricane Ike is that the city of Galveston’s part-time, unpaid mayor has virtually all the power in the city.The person who runs the city every other day, the city manager, is secondary.
That’s backwards, and it gets in the way of effective government in the face of dangerous community crisis.
The person in charge in an emergency should be the person who has hiring and firing authority over city department heads. That person is Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc, and Galveston would be better off with LeBlanc clearly established as the man in charge and serving as spokesman for the city.
That’s what we think, and if you talk off-the-record and candidly with key city employees and department heads, they also believe LeBlanc should be in charge.
~ snip ~
(Excerpt) Read more at galvnews.com ...
When is there going to be a telethon for Galveston? When are Sean Penn and Brad Pitt going to make their way down to rescue the perishing? WHERE ARE THE FEMA TRAILERS AND VISA CARDS?!!!
mark
Galveston either has the wrong skin color, wrong party affiliation, or both.
Galveston has been, for a long time, completely integrated; the most integrated city I know of.
Strong labor connections; strongly Democratic; but slowly has been turning conservative.
I don't agree. The mayor is the elected leader. If she's incompetent, you reap what you sow. If she's competent, obviously she must lean on her paid professional staff, including her manager and her department heads. Thats the way it should be.
People are discovering that judgement and ability matter in their elected leaders. They may have to remove her before its over, but in the meantime, she is the one they elected, and they'll have to live with that or do something about it.
Part time and unpaid? They'll have to address that, too. If you want a professional mayor, pay a professional wage. Maybe Steve LeBlanc can run for mayor, then.
Where’s ConYeah? ConYeah doesn’t care about Texas people...
Glen Campbell?
We’d gladly send them our Mayor and 50K of his closest friends to help, but we care too much for the suffering in Galveston and don’t want to increase their problems. Now if they want Senator Landrieu so they can get some Dumbocrat clout...we would be glad to pay her way.
The silence out of Galveston is curious. I can understand why residents who fled are upset. I can understand why family members of those who stayed to ride out the storm are upset.
Curious indeed.
You very well could be right on both accounts IMO.
Lyda Ann Thomas - Democrat Mayor since 2004
I have to say that she is now mayor of a utter wasteland, and this time it wasn't her parties fault! But since theres nothing to return to, not sure exactly what use she is right now.
Where is Marion Barry when we need him?
Apparently not. They are the right everything... it’s just that Galveston is in Texas.
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