An open mind about the next Mecklenburg County manager?

Sometimes you've got to chuckle, or at least smile, (some would sigh or cry) at the antics of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. Members seem to be perpetually explaining themselves for making comments they shouldn't.

It's commission Vice Chair Kim Ratliff's turn this time as she's being called on the carpet for her statement to WBTV that in her opinion the county needs as the next county manager a "non-white male who can have good working relations with all people."

She said "the person coming in has to be a strong candidate who is able to deal with conflict resolution, who is diverse, who has an open mind and who is able to engage everyone in the process."

That last part about someone with "an open mind and who is able to engage everyone in the process" will seem like a laugh-out-loud moment to many, given Ratliff's steadfast support of former county manager Harry Jones. Jones was fired last month in large part because he failed to do those things. The most stunning example was his dismissal of the need for an independent audit of the county's massively flawed property revaluation that will now cost millions to rectify.

Jones called the audit "neither necessary nor appropriate," saying a review would serve no purpose. Only after commissioners proceeded with the audit did he relent.

And Ratliff herself acknowledged that Jones did not speak to some commissioners though she added that some commissioners didn't speak to him either.

So her own words do make it curious why she was so doggedly in favor of keeping Jones on.

But it's her words describing who should be the next county manager that are getting her in hot water now. In an email correspondence over the weekend, a resident questioned her objectivity, noting "the county's Board Policy in the HR manual clearly states that you will not engage in unlawful discrimination with respect to all aspects of County employment policy and practice including with respect to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap and age."

Ratliff wrote back, saying her comments were meant to convey her feeling that a woman "could be the next county manager. "I believe in WOMEN hands down," she wrote, "which is the point I was making in my comments... Why do men feel entitled to be in leadership roles... My point is simple; the next Mecklenburg County Manager must be diverse and understand the diverse make-up of our citizens..."

Hold on, commissioner Bill James chimes in.

He answered in an email that he thinks the "person that is selected should be the 'best qualified person for the job.'" But he added that "statistically, it would be highly improbable that the individual selected in an impartial manner would have the same makeup as the previous manager."

"If that occurs," he wrote, "it would be evidence that the process was not impartial... The idea that two managers in a row would have exactly the same characteristics while representing a small percentage of the overall populations of possible managers is 'very improbable.'"

Ummmm. What's that about best qualified?

Maybe commissioners should take a breather from commenting on possible candidates before the applications come in. That would make it far easier for the public to actually believe in their objectivity, and that the best qualified candidate indeed gets the nod.