Ward 8 Alderman Ross Arnett feels that the Director of Finance is “way to valuable to fire.”
Yesterday, during a press conference regarding the $150,000 theft from City Hall, this same Director of Finance admitted that he was not sure if the money was in the vault before he locked it and that it did not occur to him to let the Mayor know of the theft. Finance Director Tim Elliott has met with the Mayor every day for the past 190 days on the budget and was certainly going over last minute items on June 7th (the day the budget was approved) and apparently did not mention the theft to the Mayor–or any of the seven days that followed.
But Arnett says this employee is too valuable to fire becasue he goes 190 mile per hour according to The Baltimore Sun.
“Tim has been going 190 miles an hour for the last six months,” said Arnett, a Democrat representing Eastport, describing Elliott’s workload during budget season. “He’s way too valuable an employee to fire. I’m not interested in hanging anybody’s scalp on my belt.”
Alderman Arnett, no one is too valuable to fire. Even you in the next election. Perhaps Mr. Elliott also feels he is “too valuable” and that led to his cavalier handling of Citizen’s cash?
What defines “important” to Alderman Arnett? I can’t think of any private concern that would tolerate this level of job dereliction. Is a bank “too valuable” if they lose the funds you have entrusted to their care?
Curiouser and curiouser.
The thief in this case has done a perfect job of exposing this town as the Mayberry it is. One can only imagine Josh going to his mom’s house for a hug after such a thing has transpired. Josh is angry but yet he seems to have an issue directing it in a constructive way–do something Josh. Why not use this anger to actually fill the market house, or paint new lines on the street ?–DO SOMETHING . Josh is oddly beholden to the administrative elders in City City hall and seems paralyzed to do anything unless he gets the approval of a parental figure. Clearly Josh has so little knowledge about running our town and how it operates he is a slave to the system–they govern him, not the other way around. It is time for Josh to study the concept of Management by Walking Around, and learn what it is like in the trenches, All good military leaders talk to the enlisted men–Josh just fires them.