The Ax Man Cometh

With Recreation Director Tom Beck sent packing, Deputy Administrator Bill Shanahan is now running the department he just investigated, taking over for the man he just displaced. No one’s claiming anything’s fishy about that because that seems to be what Shanahan does. He goes in, kicks butt and then stops the bleeding. He did it with the Fire Department, which seems to be moving along just fine now that it’s under the direction of Chief James, and he’ll undoubtedly do it again wherever else the ax might fall — and some insist the ax still has some significant work yet to do. Human Resources, however — HR seems to be immune to even Shanahan’s power. Even though the ax wasn’t involved, HR was removed of its head when director Rob Powell left. While Powell stayed on temporarily to consult on some individual projects, he’s gone now. Without him, the department has continued to go through the motions, but the motions lack coordination and sometimes reason. “Understaffed. No direction. No leadership,” is how one commissioner summed it up. “And HR is the heartbeat of any company. It’s a sad situation right now.” It’s not necessarily Shanahan’s fault. The city has been flirting with privatizing the department’s functions for months now. Russell’s certainly not going to fill the position just to turn around and give the operation to ADP. If the city ever makes up its mind to do it. Right now, staff’s opinion is that whatever the policy is — privatizing or staying the course — they’re ready to move it forward, because the “heartbeat” of the city is getting weaker. And weaker.You Might Also Like: