If you are looking for a new job, evidently it helps to be the boss of the person doing the hiring.
With the ink hardly dry on former Greensboro City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy’s resignation from the City Council, the City of Greensboro announced that Kennedy is the new director of the Neighborhood Development Department.
Kennedy resigned via an email sent to Mayor Nancy Vaughan and voted on by the City Council at the beginning of the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17 meeting.
On Thursday morning at 11 a.m. the City of Greensboro sent out a press release stating that Kennedy had been hired by Interim City Manager Chris Wilson as the director of the Neighborhood Development Department.
So in less than two days Kennedy went from being Wilson’s boss to being Wilson’s employee.
It also means that during the entire selection process, Kennedy was a sitting city councilmember and as such Wilson’s direct superior.
The City Council only has two employees that it hires and fires – the city manager, or in this case the interim city manager, and the city attorney.
On the record, Vaughan and the other seven members of the City Council, Yvonne Johnson, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Sharon Hightower, Goldie Wells, Justin Outling, Nancy Hoffmann and Tammi Thurm, have been silent about having a fellow councilmember apply for and conditionally receive a job while sitting on the City Council.
The fact that Kennedy was on the City Council when she applied for and was conditionally awarded the job could raise legal questions according to Frayda Bluestein, the David M. Lawrence Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at the North Carolina School of Government.
Bluestein in an email stated, “I have generally recommended that if a sitting board member wishes to apply for a position in their unit, they should resign before the process begins. This is based on a very technical reading of [NC] GS 14-234.”
It is unknown at this time if any other councilmembers have applied for jobs with the city. Stay tuned.
How much of our tax money will Nancy and the scrupulous city council give to Kennedy? Will she be accountable? Councilwoman Johnson has over 900K of unaccountable to the citizens of Greensboro.
Not surprised. That’s the way the system works, especially for a govt job.
It won’t matter.Nothing does.
Typical Guilford county. Corrupt. Deceitful. No Accountability.
Crooked politics wins again!
Has the FBI looked into this yet?
Nice to know she got a real job. Was it ever posted? How many other applicants?
What does the Neighborhood Development Department do, other than carelessly spend our hard earned money?
None of you care! Stop trying to come off as this is anything important. your problem with any of this is purely partisan. Stop pretending.
Hey nobody cares maybe you should look in the mirror my grandpa used to say the Guilty Dog always barks the loudest if the collar fits you wear it
will she have to give up her day job at the IRC? Seems that you can’t have 2 full time jobs. oh but wait, she’ll “work” remote and will be able to balance having a toddler to care for while taking on her responsibilities at both the IRC and the City of Greensboro.
The same partisan politics I’ve seen in a lifetime here. The milk never gets fresher if all you ever do is move it to another shelf. I know; let’s pour it down the drain and get something fresh. We’ll miss the odor, but some things only stay entertaining until proven sour.
Will we never learn?
Director of neighborhood development. One of the “Animal Farm” characters? Success in this role means . . . what? She directs my neighborhoods development?