Man, we have some important job openings all around us.
As Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly was preparing for Monday’s final community chat about the looming hire to replace David Roddy atop the police department, news came over the weekend about the progress in the search for Bryan Johnson’s successor at Hamilton County Schools.
We all hope Kelly and his staff surely understand that the hiring of the new chief needs to be viewed as politically critical more than politically correct. This is easily the most important hire of Kelly’s first year, first term, last year or last term considering the stakes in the city.
However, the Chattanooga Police Department chief selection may not be as important as the one the school board is mulling as the school system announced the field was trimmed to five over the weekend.
Times Free Press reporter Anika Chaturvedi provided a look at the five and their current job status. It’s an interesting collection for sure, and a field that offers variety in terms of qualifications, experience and work history.
Befitting a job of this magnitude and of this importance, those qualifications have different appeal to the different folks making the decision.
Which leads to the process up to this point. The five candidates have qualifications for days, and that’s a good thing. A great thing, even.
Still, despite the stack of resumes with more bullet points than a Dodds Avenue street sign, the early scores of the Final Five were eye-popping.
Justin Robertson, the longtime Hamilton County Schools employee who has been a favored pick since Johnson became the most famous trucking company employee since “Smokey and the Bandit,” was the runaway frontrunner.
According to school board member and search coordinator Tucker McClendon, Robertson had 43 of a possible 45 points on the 0-5 scale from each voting board member. That was a whopping 14.5 clear of second.
And before we get too caught up in the scores, everyone take a deep breath.
Yes, Robertson appeared to be the early favorite for a lot of reasons. His skill set seems to be perfect to build on Johnson’s progress and serve as a bridge to the unknown that is coming our way next year with the election of a new county mayor, new faces on the county commission and school board, for sure.
And yes, we always should cast a watchful eye over the school board and system that has had an inconsistent track record around accountability and transparency.
That said, shouldn’t we expect that McClendon and his colleagues scour the country for the best possible candidate, even if that candidate may be the guy we liked from the start and a guy who mails his county property taxes to the same address the rest of us do?
Certainly, first impressions are important, and many times they are the right inclination. I think Robertson qualifies – and benefits – in that regard.
But this hire is too big not to be exhaustive. It’s too important not to make every effort to eliminate as many claims as possible that it was the easy way out or the “good ol’ boy choice,” even if the good ol’ boy is the right choice.
And in truth, Robertson should welcome the competition. If the board searches everywhere from Vegas to Connecticut and still turns to Robertson, well, then yes, most people’s first guess would have been proven to be the final answer. But think back to the “easy” transition hires for this job in years past that have failed.
And for a business like Hamilton County Schools, which operates with a budget closing in on $500 million, paying five figures to a search firm is assuredly worth that kind of peace of mind on a hire this important – regardless of whether the hire is the guy we know or someone we don’t.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
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Jay Greeson