They Know The Truth

OK, I’ve now been in the Mayor’s office for almost two months. What are my initial impressions? What surprises me, and what requires some adjustment?

 In no particular order of importance, here are a few…

·         Salt Lake County government is a large and complex organization. We have thousands of employees, scores of services and hundreds of buildings. It’s hard to learn it all, even if you’re a full time employee with time to master it. So, I often wonder, how is John Q. Public supposed to figure this out? And, in fact, many never will. That was made clear today when I received an e-mail from a frustrated constituent certain that only “real city mayors” had “real responsibilities.”

“Why should I pay Ben McAdams salary,” she said, “there’s absolutely nothing for him to do.”

·         I had no idea how many beautiful facilities Salt Lake County owns. Places like the Viridian Center, Abravenal Hall, South Mountain Golf Course, The Capitol Theatre and the list goes on and on. By now, if someone told me the Taj Mahal or Pebble Beach were county facilities, I’d believe them.

·         The person who did the numbering system for the Government Center was perverse. I’ve been given office numbers and wound up totally lost. I’ve given office numbers to others fearing they’d never find their destination. Last week I ran into a soul directed to the assessor’s office days before. Worn down, confused, exhausted, he was now resigned to an $800,000 appraisal on his two-bedroom home. “Please,” he said, “just show me the way out.”

·         There’s only one person who’s mastered all there is to know about the county, he’s Ben’s assistant, and his name is Jon Hennington. No bit of County minutia has escaped him; no minor bureaucrat is unknown to him. I swear, if I called out, “Jon, who’s the second assistant deputy director of drainage design?” He’d have a name, a phone number and someone to call if the second assistant was out of town.

·         Whatever else there is to know about our deputy mayor, there is not one single ounce of “stroll” in that woman. Everywhere Nichole Dunn goes she marches with a stride and determination that would challenge any brick wall to stop her.  When she charges out the door at the end of the day I fear for some poor dog at home, soon to be walked, and expected to keep pace at the end of a leash.

·         I occupy a desk just outside the mayor’s office.  It’s the first bit of furniture you see when you walk through the door and into the mayor’s suite. There are two realities existing on either side of that door. First, there are people from the outside who think I’m someone far more important than I am. Second, there are those people whose job exists inside that door, and they know the truth.