Published: July 12, 2008 09:46 pm            

Hit the bricks, jack

Roger Crossen’s 23-year career with the Whitfield County Recreation department came to an end on Thursday. He resigned after meeting with county administrator Robert McLeod. Crossen, who has been the county’s director of recreation for 17 of those years, said he was given the option of resigning or being fired.

In his brief comments to a reporter for The Daily Citizen, Crossen said he was told the county wanted to “go in a new direction.”

On Friday, McLeod refused to discuss Crossen’s leaving.

County commissioners said nothing of value about the situation, shifting responsibility to the tight-lipped McLeod, who has been on the job for a little more than a year.

Crossen said he has never received a written reprimand for his job performance and referred to the ultimatum he received as “a big surprise.”

So, what exactly are the taxpayers of Whitfield County supposed to think of this sudden and impactful situation?

Apparently, your local county government could care less.

For the record, the removal of a department level manager transcends the usual “Bob runs the day-to-day operation” dodge employed by elected officials. And if they think we believe that this was a decision made solely by the county administrator, then the commissioners must really have a low opinion of the intelligence of the average county resident.

Of course they were involved in the decision.

If not, then they should resign en masse and let us set up an election where candidates who actually want to make tough decisions — and stand by them — can run for office.

Crossen has no shortage of critics and there may well be a case for his removal from the director’s job. Then again, maybe he just did a lousy job of stroking egos at the courthouse. That’s the point. We don’t know because the same people who want to pay a full time salary to a public relations flack won’t explain a major change in their administration.

Hiding behind “it’s a personnel matter” is a cop out. You don’t have to trash an individual publicly to make a case for change.

Certainly if I was a qualified applicant for the Crossen’s old job (or a new version of it) I would like to know how my job performance will be evaluated. And I would like to think that there was a system in place more concrete than personal whim dictating it.

If there was dissatisfaction with the way a 17-year veteran had been running the department and that dissatisfaction reached the level where his removal was warranted, then there should be a paper trail in his personal file that says so.

The Daily Citizen has requested that information and should get it next week.

Maybe that file will speak more eloquently than our county government officials.



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