Curt Childress-Part Two

Let’s discuss Curt Childress’s good points before going on. He was born and raised in Iowa; as was I. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree at an Iowa university. I obtained both of my degrees at a different Iowa university.
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Mr. Childress has a very professional presentation of self. He can and does hand out a line that is amazingly convincing. One would never guess that it is sound and fury hiding a lack of knowledge while pontificating. He is however not unique. The former Manager also surrounded himself with individuals possessing the same knowledge and verbal skills.
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The thing that is really worrisome is the fact that our elected members of the Council are not aware of the information I am presenting and the majority of them have not demonstrated any desire to critique or seriously question the staff about their recommendations. I know that part of their apprehension comes from frequently tongue lashings by the Mayor; about not showing the staff the loyalty it is due.
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During a further review of Mr Childress’s resume I found where he listed a civic position: President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Allentown Road Volunteer Fire Department. The period was from 1999 until he came to the City. I located their web site and reviewed the Department’s section on its history. It lists all former Chiefs and Presidents. Mr. Childress is not on the list. Enough said. Go to http://www.allentownroad.com/ and click on the History link. Just before the pictures at the bottom you can check for yourself.
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Enough with the diversion. In reviewing Mr. Childress’s resume and application he does not claim any experience in supervising or managing employees or any knowledge in the disciplines that he is currently directing. One would think that would be a prerequisite. It wasn’t a consideration because the former Manager needed someone to be in charge of the new Centers that Leslie Cullen created while a consultant. Mr. Childress, giving him credit, has excellent skills as a salesman.
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As I pointed out in the start of the last posting, Mr. Childress is primarily in charge of Economic Development, Planning and Zoning and Community Development. All of this is expected from a landscape architect with no management skills or knowledge in any of the disciplines. It goes to demonstrate the foolishness of the current City organizational structure created by the Interim City Manager.
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If Ms. Cullen is relying on Mr. Childress to have the expertise, and we know he doesn’t, the question is, where we will find the employees that know what they are doing. I will shed some light on that in the next posting.