Best of luck Laura Tingo. What's this have to do with our Finance Director for the City of Lake Worth?

Update: It's front page news (B1, Local) in today's (9/17) Palm Beach Post that West Palm Beach is adding 10 police officers to patrol problem areas in that city:

     The officers will patrol Coleman Park, the Historic Northwest and Broadway areas, focusing on quality-of-life issues, including open containers, drug sales, loitering and prostitution.
     “They’re going to stop and talk to all the merchants and just be really, really visible,” [Mayor Jeri] Muoio said. “We’re responding to the concerns people have about safety, making sure we’re addressing that.” 

But. . . Lake Worth, a much tinier City just to the south of West Palm, is adding 5 more deputies and so far nothing in the paper. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

The City of Lake Worth is looking for a new media specialist. Laura Tingo and the City decided to go separate ways. It just didn't work out. This minor story about a staff position, for some reason, was in Thursday's (9/15) Post, page B3 in the print edition. However, have you seen this news in the Post?

So far, no news in the Post about 5 more deputies. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

The irony is this: if it wasn't for substandard news reporting the City wouldn't need a media specialist in the first place. Hopefully, the next person who takes the job will be a better fit.

Anyhow, at the end of this blog post is a stroll down memory lane to October 30th last year. The previous Finance Director resigned after only 8 months on the job. Why? Simply because it wasn't a good fit: both for him and the City. But some took the opportunity to go on the attack against City Manager Michael Bornstein with claims he lacked the skill to pick the right people for the right job.

Nonsense. The fact of the matter is you just don't know sometimes.

Someone who looks like the perfect fit will turn out not to be. Or that person may not like the job. It could be anything. Our new Finance Director, Marie Elianor, is on the job about 6 months now. From accounts I've heard many in the City are quite pleased with her performance. She was exceptional during the latest budget workshops. Below is the news from last March in the City's newsletter:

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     The City of Lake Worth is pleased to announce the appointment of Finance Director, Marie Elianor. Marie is an experienced Florida leader who has worked her entire career at various local and county governments and she’s excited to continue her work in Lake Worth. For Marie, the new position brings new challenges and new opportunities.
     “This is my first experience working with electric utilities,” she said. “That’s something I find very interesting and I’m eager to work with the electric department.”

Now for a stroll down memory lane. . . the Post's beat reporter interviewed City Manager Bornstein on the resignation of the previous Finance Director last year. Bornstein did a good job of summing up the situation. Here are two excerpts from the article:

     After only eight months on the job, Finance Director Nerahoo Hemraj resigned on Friday [October 30, 2015], with city officials saying the position wasn’t a good fit.
     “Lake Worth is a very dynamic place and it’s not for everybody,” [emphasis added] said City Manager Michael Bornstein.

[and. . .]

     As for the city’s next permanent finance director, Bornstein said the city will be searching for someone willing to take on a “dynamic” challenge.

About sums it up, doesn't it?