Ted's excellent adventure
Submitted by James on Mon, 02/23/2009 - 11:55am
I'm a fan and friend of Ted Vaden. He's a solid citizen, cautious in his judgments, and professional in every way. His most recent job was as the public editor for the New and Observer, where he performed as well as anyone can on that hot seat. More recently, Governor Perdue announced that Ted has been hired as the communications director for the Department of Transportation.
Lord knows NCDOT needs a big heap of help on all fronts, especially communications. But I'm having trouble with the decision. It's not about Ted, he'll do a great job. It's about the wisdom of hiring someone to fill a high paying communications position in state government at a time when we're slashing and burning on every other front: teachers, mental health, environmental enforcement, transit, you name it, we're stretching our government's capabilities to the breaking point.
Our friend Laura Leslie at WUNC-FM takes a different view, reflecting the death spiral that news organizations are enduring these days. Gary Pearce at Talking About Politics makes more or less the same case.
I empathize, but can't see my way clear to defend the new hiring of any spokesperson. It's not about Ted. It's about fiscal austerity. From all I can see, our economy is in deepest of trouble right now. With this hire, Governor Perdue is sending the wrong signals to a state that is being asked to sacrifice in every other arena.
The N&O article shows us the money: $117,000 plus benefits. Now its time for the Perdue administration to show us the value.
Well....here I go disagreeing with you again
:D
Overall, I think I agree with you. Historically (and in the future) transportation has been a very hot issue in this state. I haven't looked at the projects proposed for injections of cash from our portion of the stimulus monies, but I would bet some/many are transportation infrastructure projects. I think this is a communications job we need to fill. Maybe other departments should consolidate a bit.
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
There will be a huge amount of money
going into transportation. The communications job is important. So is the job of my friend who helps autistic kids learn to talk using music therapy. She's out on the street from state budget cutbacks.
I can't see that good PR for DOT is more important than what she's doing, not in a million years.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
This isn't just about PR
This is about transparency in a department that sucks up a lot of our tax dollars. Take away the communications and a lot of that transparency goes out the window.
Many jobs that we will see disappear - I hope temporarily - will be those that had a benefit for our children. Arts and music education in schools, some athletics programs and programs/staff positions that benefit at-risk children are usually the first to go. It sucks. It's not right. I'd love to have a chance to look at all the jobs and pick the ones I think should go. I guarantee you I could find some jobs that need to be combined....permanently. I would like, just once, to see our kids come out on top.
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Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
Value
Depending on whether or not you grind off the old asphalt first, $117,000 will repave somwhere between a few hundred feet and more than half a mile of a two-lane rural highway. NC maintains more than 78,000 miles of highways.
Six figures for a departmental spokesperson is just too much
There's not even a reasonable "standard of living" argument (or any other one) to make here.
Nothing against Vaden or his skill set or his potential value.
The responsibility for this one lies with the person that made the compensation agreement.
This is one of those tin ear moments that comes back in omninous-toned, grainy TV ads.
Poor use of money. Poor politics. Poor judgement.
Agree
I once flacked for a state agency, and I believe in the best of times it is questionable if the money is well-spent. Often, the communications become just a form of PR for the Council of State member or up the chain for the governor. Now hold on, well here it is, too: Sometimes, the people in these positions, well, um, they try to HIDE the truth instead of TELL the truth. Despite Ted Vaden's best intentions, I bet one day he will be faced with this choice: lie or quit. When there's $117,000 american euros on the table, the answer you think you'll pick might not be the answer you do pick.
Now, in what we might consider the worst of times, spending such money on PR people is not acceptable. Period. When teachers start getting fired and others, like James' friend, get let go, there is a responsibility on the part of the governor or agency head to explain why Vaden's job is more important than the teacher who either isn't being hired or was just let go. And by the way, I don't know any teacher that makes that much per year, do you?
Greg