KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

 

The item on the agenda for the 11/21/23 meeting of the Florence City council that had received the most “buzz” on social media after the agenda was published online was 12 (g). It read: “A Resolution to amend the City of Florence Manual for Supervisors and Employees regarding Department Heads, sponsored by Mayor Betterton and Musgrove.” That was it! No explanation really and it gave way to much speculation. The posters online in the different Facebook groups which primarily discuss Florence City government were stating their displeasure with the amount of nepotism that had been apparent in the hiring of department heads. Disapproval reigned supreme in the remarks, and it usually included the name JORDAN. It has been the subject since the hire was made of Dick Jordan’s wife and son. Nobody seemed to like that he had included members of his family on the city payroll.

The work session is the time that department heads usually explain what they have presented to the council to be approved as an agenda item. When it came time for Bill Musgrove, city attorney, to present the explanation of item 12 (g), he stated that it was a “clean-up” in the city employee handbook. He had noticed some wording required changing and that jobs were more aptly hired, especially in a tight labor market and at the entry level, if they were presented to the public at the same time as they were to city employees. At present, there has been a 7-day waiting period for city employees to apply for jobs first. 12-G eliminated the waiting period for the public. Talk about a let down! Live stream posters were ballistic! How can the mayor or former mayor have so much sway over who gets hired? As it turns out, blame it on the higher ups!

The code of Alabama regarding municipality’s governance gives the mayor the absolute right to hire any department head he sees fit. If he does not violate any state or federal hiring guidelines, he can hire anyone from his neighbor to his nephew. I did not know this but when I thought about it, it is following the same order as the President of the United States and his cabinet. Donald Trump had both his daughter and his son-in-law. Dick Jordan can hire his wife BUT did not hire his son. He got Andy Betterton to do it. Bill Musgrove in a more “tactful” way explained this to the “council” but it was for the public’s benefit. As he left the podium to sit back down after making his presentation, Mr. Musgrove thanked Dick Jordan for hiring him.

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖