Friday, when I found out that two more high-level staffers at City Hall were leaving, I promised to come back with some follow-up as soon as I had any. Looks like the U-T is doing a better job of that. Today, Ron Powell’s piece confirms that the two — Rick Reynolds, who was in charge of basically reforming the city, and Lance Wade, the head of purchasing and contracting — were just plain fired.
And since the mayor won’t talk about it, Wade and Reynolds get to describe what happened when Jay Goldstone, the mayor’s chief everything, met with them.
Wade said, “I asked him if there was anything I’d done and he said, ‘No. You’re just not political enough.’ There was no warning. No one said they weren’t happy with my work.”
It’s very interesting how far and how fast Mayor Jerry Sanders is running away from the plans and people that Ronne Froman brought to the city. Reynolds and Wade were both brought on because of Froman, whom the mayor had claimed would reengineer the city as chief operating officer. Froman herself abruptly left her post in June.
First the mayor tells me not long ago that he’s no longer interested in hiring people with a business or military background to help him run the city. Now Froman’s people are being weeded out. How disillusioned was the mayor with what Froman had in mind? Is it warranted?
And I’m thinking along another line as well. I have heard a lot of concerns about the contracting process at the city — the system Wade oversaw. I can see why that isn’t necessarily a big deal: It seems when so much money is on the line, the people who don’t get contracts are going to complain about how it went. So you have to take that in perspective. But I’ve also fielded some critical comments not from people who were trying to get contracts but from people who were trying to award contracts — people whose efforts intersect with the city’s and require them to work within the bureaucracy. I’ve had a few tell me they were upset at how much hassle that process entailed.
Perhaps you readers can help me out. If any of this sounds familiar, drop me a line.