What the hell is going on over at the Jackson Redevelopment Authority? The Mississippi Business Journal reported:
A fraudulent Internet job posting that listed the annual pay for the next executive director of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority at $160,000 may have confused the final two candidates but won’t force a restart of the effort to fill the job.
That’s the assessment the chairwoman of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority and the head of a search firm hired to help find suitable candidates gave after a pessimistic report on the search from the chair of the JRA’s personnel committee, Langford Porter.
Porter said the finalists –reported to be Gary Williams, head of economic development for Carbondale, Ill.; and Howard Ways, head of the Prince George County (Md.) Redevelopment Authority – left Jackson disappointed after a full day of interviews with the personnel committee July 21.
The reason: A mysterious ad on the Web that specified a yearly salary of $160,000 to head the Jackson Redevelopment Authority.
The job will pay the right candidate six figures but won’t come close to $160,000, Jennifer Johnson, JRA chairwoman, said.
The JRA paid previous executive directors in the $55,000 to $65,000 range. The new and expanded responsibilities of the post merit higher pay for the next Authority head, Johnson said.
The last executive director, Willie Mott, received $65,000 a year but no employment benefits. The JRA fired Mott in the spring after hiring him as permanent director in July 2014. He had been serving as interim chief.
In a report to JRA board members the day after the interviews, Porter said he thinks the job search may have to start again from “scratch” after having narrowed a list of 16 applicants to two..... Rest of the article.
No serious candidate is going to look twice at JRA when it pulls crap such as posting this bogus ad. Then there is the matter of the salary. Pay junk and one gets junk. $65,000 a year for that type of job is junk and look what they got- junk they fired. Pitiful.
10 comments:
I'm usually wary of government positions, particularly those with nebulous goals, being over-paid. However, I agree with your assessment. To get a qualified candidate, the salary should be much higher.
It would be good to know the salaries of similar positions in other areas.
Of course, if the position is going to be filled by the "good ole boy" system, the salary is already too high.
Not being discussed, at least yet here at JJ, is that both convention hotel bidders are looking for $40+ MILLION in what is ultimately taxpayer provided gimmes, spiffs, backstops, giveaways and the like.
MOST OUTRAGEOUS (pay attention here Larry Nesbit) is the JRA proposed diversion of 30% of the voter-approved tax increase that is paying for the construction and debt costs for the white elephant convention center:
"JRA is offering to let a 30 percent share of a convention center hotel’s 1 percent tourism tax on lodging and restaurant sales to go toward development costs."
Doing that would only extend the time it takes to pay off that red ink drowning center and certainly must be challenged legally since the diversion was not approved by voters.
Also note that both private developers only plan to kick in approximately 10 PERCENT of the money to build the hotels.
Meet the new Young Harvey Yarber, same as the old Harvey Johnson.
It would be good to know the salaries of similar positions in other areas.
Well there's a damn slippery slope. Would you like to know how grossly overpaid Duane O'Neill is relative to similar positions in other areas?
The article quotes a recruiter as saying he's been in recruiting 23 years and they don't give candidates unrealistic expectations. Bullshit with a capital 'B'. All recruiters give inflated figures hoping it will interest those they contact, increase the candidate pool and bring them a quicker check.
There is not a recruiter alive (or dead for that matter) who has not said, "Well, you never know, it could go as high as xxx, just depending. And it looks like with your qualifications, you can expect the top end of the scale for the position if you're among the finalists."
I'm not sure exactly what this incumbent in this position does or is expected to do, but $65k is on the low end of what HR Directors in the Metro area can expect to make. Duane O'Neal is paid three times what he should be paid and if Ben Allen accepts a paycheck at all, he oughta be ashamed, or flogged, or both.
This was not a FRAUDULENT ad, as professed by the JRA. The ad was real and it really did say $160,000 salary, with applications to be sent to JRA's outside legal counsel. MBJ is sugar coating this damn nasty pill. The only way to swallow it is that the idiots at JRA totally f**** up, yet again, just like they do everything else. Can anybody remember any good development projects the JRA has done in the last decade? they've screwed up everything they've touched, have been in litigation on just about every deal the worked on, and they're bleeding the city and the taxpayers dry to defend incompetent and corrupt board members and lawyers. Please don't tell me that these guys are really going to try to do a hotel project with a $40 MILLION subsidy. Please, JRA, go away. quit wasting tax dollars!
Why should the JRA be any less dysfunctional than the Jackson City Council and Jackson government?
Sue everyone!!!
How much are they paying the recruiting firm? Twenty-thirty percent of the starting salary or is it a flat fee or retained search? If they're paying less than 30% the candidates are being pulled from Job Boards and not being "recruited." The joke is on JRA, only they're too uneducated and arrogant to see this. They really are Jackson!
Here's the low-down on the recruiting firm used by JRA. The owner is gainfully supported by and is PRO-UNION. Imagine all those union jobs and threats of strikes Jackson can look forward to seeing under the JRA and it's recruiting efforts for business and emoloyees. Jackson is in more trouble than ever imagined
Virgil L. Fludd
State Representative, State of Georgia
President, The Carvir Group
Virgil Fludd is a State Representative, serving a fifth term in the 66th House District which includes parts of Fayette and Fulton Counties in south metro Atlanta. He is the Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and serves on the Ways and Means, Regulated Industries, Small Business Development, and Banking Committees. He is also Vice-Chair of the NCSL Revenue and Budget Committee and Co-Chair of the Georgia Working Families Caucus.
During his tenure in office, Rep. Fludd has authored or co-authored over 100 bills to improve the lives of the citizens of Georgia. His legislative successes include battles to stop payday lending, tax reform, district voting and financial education in the state of Georgia. He has won recognition by the Center for Policy Alternatives, AARP, Georgia Association of Personnel Services, Georgia Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, Georgia Equality, United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union 1985, Georgia State AFL-CIO and Georgia Association of Educators.
Mr. Fludd has over 20 years of sales, marketing, management and consulting experience. He is thePresident and CEO of The Carvir Group, an executive recruiting and management consulting firm. The company provides corporate recruiting services to companies across the country. He has recruited for positions in general management, finance, sales and marketing, information systems, human resources and operations.
Prior to his present role, Mr. Fludd worked for Bank of America as a Vice President and Sales Manager. He also worked for Xerox Corporation in various sales and management positions.
He has been very active in his community and is a member of the Board of Visitors at Davidson College and the 100 Black Men of South Metro. Mr. Fludd is also Flemming Fellow and a graduate of the Georgia Legislative Leadership Institute, Leadership Atlanta and Leadership Fayette.
Rep. Fludd has served on the boards of the North Fayette Community Association, Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation, the Jordan Foundation, the Center for Policy Alternatives and the Board of Advisors for Christian City. He has also served on the boards of the Atlanta Chapter of the Urban Financial Services Coalition, Davidson College Alumni Association, Clayton State University Foundation and the Fayette Community Foundation.
Rep. Fludd has a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College. He and his wife, Carolyn, have been married for 27 years and they are the proud parents of two young adults, Christine and Brendan.
Let's face it, the JRA just needs to be abolished.
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