The Gazette has a Monday editorial in support of hiring Milton’s former police chief-turned-city-administator for a public school, public relations job.
It’s almost a self-parody of insiders flacking for insiders. (See, subscription req’d, Our Views: Was Milton School District’s Hiring of Jerry Schuetz a Reasonable Move?)
It’s grandiose and wasteful to think that Milton’s schools – or Whitewater’s – would need a public relations man. They don’t. The way to present oneself at open enrollment is better teaching and to offer better academic, athletic, and artistic opportunities.
That is, the best reputation comes from good work, itself.
Public relations is not a substantive, fundamental field. It’s a secondary activity. Success comes from accomplishments in substantive and fundamental fields (e.g., mathematics, history, etc.) and from that comes a true & good reputation.
Of this hire, we have a serial job-shifter. Because, after all, who in the city would be better? —
However, perhaps no one besides Schuetz was as suited for the role the district envisions. The city hired him as police chief less than six years ago. He moved up to city administrator in 2010. Schuetz has become deeply involved in the community and says he and his wife love Milton. He has a background in policing, in the city and its economic development. He even has dabbled in teaching on the side. Combine this experience with his investment in the community, and Schuetz has knowledge and talents that likely were unmatched by the six other finalists the district interviewed.
You see, the cop-turned-administrator would be perfect for a school district’s public relations flack because he “loves Milton” and has “even dabbled in teaching on the side.”
The Gazette‘s editorialist forgot to add that Schuetz likes moonlit walks, apple martinis, and bureaucrats who care about world peace.
Funny how the editorial ends – coming as it does from a newspaper – with the argument that one will not know the value of this hire for years to come:
School officials might take heat for this hiring now, but it could be years before anyone can gauge whether Schuetz and his marketing efforts are worth the investment.
That’s a joke, right?
The burden is now – at this moment – on those who hired Schuetz to justify the cost and his selection over other, profesionally-qualified candidates.
It’s false to say that there’s no evaluation to be made now, and it’s simply a transparent – and weak – attempt to stifle criticism behind the notion that no one can now know.
If what the Gazette‘s editorialist contends were true, there would be no point in much of a hiring process for anyone, after all, on the theory that no one could be certain of someone’s selection for years to come.
Is this editorial board unaware that feasilibity assesements come at the time before hiring, (2) that’s also the purpose of an interview process, (3) that such predictions based on sound analysis happen all across America each day, and (4) that one would have to be dense or gullible not to see as much.
Perhaps they’re aware, perhaps they’re not.
At the very least, I’m quite sure most people in Milton, and Whitewater, can easily see through a weak argument on behalf of an unsuitable candidate for a needless position.