 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Her noble 'sacrifice'
They must be quaking in fear over at Denver City Hall this week after the merciless punishment of the parks manager who had better things to do than put in full-time hours for her full-time salary of $110,423. Manager Kim Bailey was told point-blank by Mayor John Hickenlooper that she actually would have to work for a living even though it’s much more fun to attend graduate school on the city’s dime.
No wonder it can be so hard sometimes to attract top-notch talent into public service. So long as we treat our best recruits like serfs, piling on impossible demands like a 40-hour work week, naturally many will seek the greener pastures of the private sector.
A Rocky report said Bailey was “emotional after the meeting.” Who wouldn’t be? Sure, the mayor publicly praised her performance, somewhat lavishly as a matter of fact. But then he had to spoil the moment by wondering whether “someone out of the office” as often as Bailey “couldn’t do more.” Whose eye wouldn’t moisten after a tongue-lashing like that?
Admittedly, Bailey was missing in action for more than three months during the year ending March 31. But some of it was vacation. The woman does get sick every now and then, too, you know. Meanwhile, if she wants to run off to class occasionally during business hours, who are mere taxpayers to dispute her dedication?
“If the perception is that my educational pursuits are preventing me from doing the work well, then discontinuing my studies is a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” Bailey said.
Let us salute the woman for her noble “sacrifice.” And let no one dare deny that the city’s parks are in the very best of hands.
Edwards’ gibberish
The single dumbest question in last week’s Democratic debate occurred when NBC anchor Brian Williams asked candidate John Edwards about one of his sidelights.
“Senator, I have a follow-up for you on modern-day America,” Williams said. “You’ve been a counsel to hedge funds. Do hedge funds make America any better in any way?”
Huh? Does Williams think all hedge funds are the same, that they follow the same investment strategy? Well, they don’t. What they do have in common is that they are restricted to people with lots of money to invest — people, for example, like Williams.
But presumably Edwards knows this and could forthrightly defend his work.
Wrong. If anything, Edwards’ response was even stranger. “I think the financial markets are an important component of trying to figure out what it is we need to do about the fact that we have 47 million people without health care, 37 million people who wake up in poverty every day,” he said. “They play an enormous role in how money moves in this country. And I happen to believe that we have a responsibility to the people in this country who wake up every day worried about feeding and clothing their children. And I think those people in New York who work in financial markets understand, in some ways at least, what can be done, and can play a significant role in trying to lift people up who are struggling.”
To put it charitably, this response is a dodge. To put it uncharitably, it’s gibberish.
It was up to Hillary Clinton to rescue Edwards by providing a partial defense of risk-taking investment. “I think that America is a great place because we have an entrepreneurial economy,” she told Williams. “We have people who are willing to make stakes in new enterprises and invest their money.”
Why couldn’t Edwards have said that, and more? And if he couldn’t, why was he a counsel for hedge funds?
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.
Edwards is a dim bulb and a huge hypocrite. He tries to turn every issue into one of income inequality, while he lives high off the hog.
Posted by on May 2, 2007 08:13 AMOnce again Carroll is dead-on in exposing the Denver Democratic machine for its corrupt cronyism and inefficiencies which soak the Denver taxpayers. Why is it that you never see an opinion piece like this in the Denver Post? Hmmm .....
Posted by CC on May 2, 2007 08:15 AMIt was not a dumb question because the candidates had a difficult time answering it. One answer would have been to point out the growing gulf between rich and poor, exacerbated by hedge funds...another would have been to point out the philantrhopic good many hedge funds do. There are good answers on both sides, but no candidate came up with one.
Posted by Chris on May 2, 2007 08:38 AMBailey must not be too bright, otherwise she would have gotten on Bill Owens gravy train administration and racked all those bonuses and vacation time. Oh, I forgot, we aren't supposed to bring up negatives about Republicans in Vince's column.
Posted by on May 2, 2007 08:51 AMHillary--who famously made a 1000% return on her investment in pig futures--better be able to defend the benefits of hedge funds.
Posted by frank on May 2, 2007 09:20 AMIt's good to see that the quality of employee the City and County of Denver hires continues to decline. This, at least, shows consistency. It's good to know that the lowest common denominator always has a place for them in Denver city government. From Larry "Laptop" Manzanares to James "Trigger" Turney , Ranjan "Popcan" Ford, Robert "Zapper" Krouse, Dani "Badges" Eliscu, Joe "Sticky Fingers" Bini, "Machine Gun" Stan Ford, Gary "Overtime" Lauricella, Doug "103K" Kelly, and Tom "Is the state flower of Hawaii a Columbine?" Sanchez, the citizens of Denver cup truly runneth over. Congrats on another four years of the same!
Posted by Jon on May 2, 2007 11:53 AMSummary:
Candidate takes a question, doesn't want to answer and deflects it to what he does want to talk about.
Politics 101, but VC has his panties in a twist.
Too bad we never hear him complaining about Preznit Chimpy McShrub spouting gibberish.
Posted by Vince is a pathetic repugnant shill on May 2, 2007 01:34 PMKim Bailey is just another JLoop lackey cashing-in. In violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, JLoop nullified the votes of Denver citizens when he illegally comandeered DPS and installed his "Brownie", Michael Bennet, as DPS Sup with an entry-level salry of $400K. Last week JLoop hired another one of his cronies with no teaching experience, an entry-level salry of $250K. JLoop silenced the Northeast Denver lambs, by tossing a bone to tired and recylced Webb cronie, Allegra "Happy" Haynes, with a DPS entry-level salary of $90K. JLoop saved the big bucks for the white folks.
The Dems are investigating GOP Cong. Rick Renzi for his fraud, waste, and abuse, of federal funds. He did the same thing as JLoop in hirign his cronies and friends. It is a double-standard for Pelosi and Reid to not prosecute him for wrongful appropriation of U.S. Dept. of Education and U.S. Dept. of Transportation funds. It is preposterous that JLoop wasted an additional $40K when he advertised the DPS sup's job nationally, when he knew he had a fair-haired boy already on an inside "illegal" fast track. JLoop deserves to a cellmate with Nye, Nacchio, Abramoff, and Cunningham.
Posted by JJ Tenant, LCDR, LDO, Ret. on May 2, 2007 04:41 PMDon't forget - coming soon, Feinstein's corruption will see the light of day for steering hundreds of mil to her husband's defense firm.
Remember Nancy's pledge to "clean the place up" when campaigning? How's that going, Ms. Speaker?
When either party tells you they are cleaner than the other, don't buy it. The only difference I see is that when the GOP is exposed, they are either convicted or resign. Not so for the Dems. It's just wink, wink.....
Works the same at the state and local level.
Posted by on May 2, 2007 05:46 PMWhen will people learn. As my mom used to tell us groing up, Don't steal the government hates competition.
Posted by Can I get an AMEN! on May 3, 2007 10:27 AM