The city of Austin's "Chief Equity Officer"

"Professing to be wise, they became fools,"
Romans 1:22

Cutting to the chase for busy readers:

From this morning's statesman:

Austin residents got their first look at the person who will be the city’s first-ever Chief Equity Officer during a town hall event Thursday night at the Palmer Events Center.

The chief equity officer, a position newly created by the City Council, will head an office focused on identifying gaps and disparities in services and programs in the city, as well as help create ways for city departments to address those needs. The position will also help community groups work with the city to ensure equal access to city programs and services.

At the event attended by about 100 people, including Council Members Delia Garza and Kathie Tovo, the three finalists for the position were given 10 minutes to make opening remarks to the audience and then answered questions for 15 minutes. The city initially announced four finalists for the position, but one candidate, Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, withdrew her application before the town hall, the city said.

The three finalists are: Veronica Briseño Lara, director of the small minority business resources department at the City of Austin; Brion Oaks, vice president of health equity at the Southwest Affiliate of the American Heart Association; and Kazique Prince, a senior policy advisor and education coordinator for Mayor Steve Adler.

It gets better:

The event was the first time the community at large heard from the candidates, though the consulting group that helped the city with recruiting for the position had sought out community input during earlier stages in the search.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

We don't remember the source, but we vaguely recall hearing scuttlebutt that the fix is in and that Adler's guy is going to get the position.  That would render this entire 'search process' an expensive smokescreen.  Obviously, that would be consistent with Adler's m.o.

Equally obvious: Whatever disparities may or may not exist in Austin's municipal government won't be solved by adding another layer of bureaucracy at a six figure annual salary.

Bottom Line: Sheesh....

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Read the recruiting brochure below:

CEO.brochure.final .4.27 by Cahnman on Scribd