Stop The Brain Drain

You may have seen the news that the City of Shawnee is losing yet another high level employee. https://shawneemissionpost.com/2023/04/19/shawnee-finance-director-resigns-199486/

Make no mistake, these staff members are leaving for a reason. We have experienced significant brain drain from our city staff. Since 2022 we have lost our City Manager, Deputy City Manager, Finance Director, Deputy IT Director, Development Director, and Communications Director, and those are just the upper level managers.

These were all professionals who did amazing work for our city. I can personally confirm that at least three of them took demotions and/or pay cuts to go work for other cities. These moves were not for their personal advancement. Their loss is a loss for all our residents as our city will struggle to be as well managed as a result. That is not to say that we do not continue to have amazing staff, because we do! However, we must course correct soon before we lose all our best people.

To quote my blog from February of 2023:

“The council does not rely on the professional analysis and research of our hard working staff members whose job it is to keep our city running. In addition, they actively undermine and degrade our staff to their faces. It is actually painful to listen to. Our staff have always done more with less but are currently drowning by a mass exodus (including 2 of 3 from the City Manager’s office) prompted by the poor treatment by our council members.”

But lets dig in a little further. There was a suggestion in the comments to the Shawnee Mission Post article by user ShawneeVoter that these staff losses are no “loss” and will help move our city forward. The argument being that the people who left are keeping us from doing what our residents really want. You may have seen ShawneeVoter in the past if you are a regular reader of the SMP comments section.

This comment implies that staff are leaving because the Council is choosing to go in a different strategic direction. That is simply not true. Our staff are professionals and they understand the role of the governing body as who determines the overall direction of the city. Staff are leaving because this governing body treats them terribly. I have personally witnessed the scrutiny our staff are under every day from certain meddlesome council members. And this isn't just happening from the dais. It is happening in meetings outside the chambers. Even so, open meetings afford little protection to the workers who are just trying to do their jobs. I've said it before... watching the Council grill staff members is like watching a live frog being dissected. It is uncomfortable for everyone involved except the council members doing the questioning. These council members seem to have a complete lack of understanding that these are workers who are trying to do their best and the Council's behaviors undermine their confidence and leave them less able to perform their jobs at their highest capacity. This is their livelihood at stake.

It is ok for council members to ask questions for clarification. It is not ok to ask questions for the sole purpose of having "gotcha" moments, second guessing a professional staff member's analysis, or needlessly rehashing the past. We have to remember that we do not elect council members for their ability to run the day to day operations of our city. We elect them to provide overall strategy and direction.

In addition, the council has made clear that they wish to pursue policies at both the state and federal levels that are not inclusive, despite our staff being VERY diverse. Councilmember Gilette has talked repeatedly about wanting to repeal the Fair Housing Act so that our residents don't have to live next to group homes for disabled people. 7 out of 9 members of the governing body asked the staff to add unnecessary provisions to the legislative agenda that aimed to take away protections for the LGBTQ community. Those documents are presented to state and federal officials as the desires of our community. The Council had notice that the community was divided, at best, on those issues, and chose to move forward with pursuing them anyway. Our staff members were then given the task of advocating for these positions on our behalf. This sent a clear message that we believed workers who identify as LGBTQ are second class citizens and not welcome in our community, much less as city workers.

Luckily, we still have a lot of good staff members, but we need to do everything we can to reverse course and retain them. Filling vacancies is costly for any business, and that includes our city. This costs taxpayers money. This is not a "win" for any city.

The time is NOW: Staff retention must be a priority. That means the Council needs to change…either by recognizing how much damage they are causing and taking steps to correct, or by getting voted out.

Councilmembers Jenkins and Thomas have opponents in Wards 1 and 2. Check them out. They will have my support.

Sierra Whitted, Ward 1 (northern Shawnee from Monticello to the eastern city limit)

https://www.facebook.com/SierraforShawnee/

Max Dunlap, Ward 2 (downtown area)

https://www.facebook.com/100092034816709/posts/105370639207430/

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.