Last evening I attended, albeit briefly, a meeting to organize a recall effort against Adam Colby. Admitting up front I know hardly anything about his matter beyond what has been written in The World ( a source I do not consider wholly accurate or impartial ) and the letter sent to Colby by the BOC, I think there is a broader issue to consider.
Colby may well be the most misunderstood individual to ever hold public office. He may really be a strong, motivational leader inspiring excellence and pride and a sense of purpose to his department. Or he may truly be a tyrannical, dictatorial bully, thriving on intimidation and living out militaristic fantasies while at the same time disguising his incompetence and inability to handle the job by banging his fists and pointing his fingers.
His unhappy staff could really be lazy, ineffective loafers logging time waiting for a ‘fat’ retirement, with no personal gumption or pride in themselves or their jobs, or devoid of societal ethics urging them to provide the service to their fellow citizens they are paid to do. Or, and this is more likely, they really do take pride in a doing a good job because, frankly, most people do.
So far, the disagreement from both sides seems to be almost a class war. Elected vs hired. Management vs underlings. Officer vs enlisted. Union vs non-union. Hard working vs lazy. Status quo vs malcontent. (having been labeled a malcontent I rather like them)
Both sides, I believe do a disservice framing their complaints this way. Colby, in criticizing his workers is equally insulting all public employees and should rethink that strategy because Coos County has a lot of voting public employees.
Now I have worked for a couple of employers who meet the published definitions of Colby’s management style and can personally attest it is pure hell. Nevertheless, his staff or former staff probably aren’t going to gain much public sympathy labeling Colby as a tyrant because, unfortunately and wrongly in my opinion, many people simply don’t care how people are treated by an employer.
In the end, what ultimately matters to the citizens is if the job is being done. Regardless of the dynamic at play creating these problems there does appear to be a problem and, if so, the citizens and taxing districts are potentially the primary victims. The important question is are the taxing districts suffering or are assessments accurately reflecting the revenue they deserve? Is the Assessors office providing the service they are funded to provide?
Colby and the recall committee should both be gathering statistics to argue that it is or isn’t. That said, his former staff, with their years of experience, would seem to be the most qualified to gather and ‘assess’ the data needed to prove statistically to the citizens the full impact of the problems besetting the office.
