The Daily Hustle: 4/9/10 (Updated)

Fish or cut bait: TDH casts off below the fold.

… After about an hour of discussion yesterday, City Council voted to approve a contract with an out-of-state firm to perform minority recruitment outreach for the Austin Fire Department. But the decision was for a scaled-back, extension-free contract of $280,000 – less than the $780,000 originally proposed – and it wasn't reached until after several loaded moments in the chambers.

Leading the charge was Lee Leffingwell, determinedly getting his grumpy-old-man on. He took umbrage to chief Rhoda Mae Kerr's efforts to characterize the item as costing $280,000, as it allowed for several extensions. “What the actual item obligates … is $780,000, correct?,” he said. When Kerr discussed the extensions, he cut her off, saying “ that’s extra information and I asked you if it authorized up to $780,000 and the answer is yes.”

The question of whether increasing minority participation at AFD – a widely acknowledged problem – could by handled in-house or not hung over the proceedings. Bestowing us with what would be the overused analogy of the day, Bill Spelman essentially said the contract would “teach us how to fish. Why don't we now know how to fish?” (Kerr offered she “hired these firefighters to be firefighters, not recruiters,” and that the problems of AFD recruitment are too deeply ingrained anyway; they'd “tried for ten years” without any significant recruiting results.)

Pointing to the relatively well-integrated police department, Leffingwell asked “why can't we used what other departments within our city used… find out what they know, what the Fire Department needs to know, and not take all that time to change the process?” Why couldn't AFD “build on what they learned instead of trying to reinvent the wheel?”

But not all on the council saw it that way. A substitute motion from Randi Shade allocated the funds for the first year, but no more. The more she learned about recruiting difficulties, Shade said, “I realized how hard it is to approach the kind of cultural change” required at the department. Her motion was ultimately joined by Laura Morrison Sheryl Cole, Chris Riley, and Bill Spelman.

UPDATE (at 4pm): The Hustle initially stated the final vote incorrectly. To reiterate, it was 4-3, with Leffingwell, Mike Martinez, and Laura Morrison voting nay. Morrison writes in to say:

What I did support, and seconded, was MPT Martinez’ motion to negotiate, but not execute the contract. This motion included directive to gather input from the firefighter associations, past AFD recruiters, and the Public Safety Commission before bringing it back to Council for final consideration in May.

I am a strong supporter of the concept of using professional recruiting expertise to help craft our AFD program because it will allow us to make needed strides in our diversity efforts. However, I was not able to support a motion to immediately execute the contract because this does not allow for an opportunity to get necessary stakeholder input and get them on board. I believe their involvement to create a detailed approach was a key to success.

… Wednesday saw the naming of a new deputy city auditor, Corry Stokes, by City Auditor Kenneth Mory. According to a press release,

Stokes was previously an Assistant City Auditor and previously worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Library of Congress.

As a nationally recognized leader in the field, Stokes sits on the Board of Directors for the Association of Local Government Auditors and is a member of its Communications and Conference Committees. She is also active with the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, has been published in industry journals, and spoken at national conferences.

Awesome.

What the hell else is happening?

On the city calendar: The Community Action Network Board of Directors meets in the Board and Commission room at City Hall, 310 W. Second, 1pm. On the agenda: “Find or create a dropout study with an emphasis on barriers to continuing school or reasons for dropping out,” and create a “Community Resources 101 initiative” focused on basic needs assistance.

A subcommittee of the Environmental Board meets at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs, Room 240, to discuss the proposed Whisper Valley Planned Unit Development.

The city’s Live from the Plaza music series continues with Sweet Bunch of Daisies, City Hall Plaza, noon.

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