The good old boys of St. Louis County just can't seem to get over it: In November 2006, County Attorney Alan Mitchell ran an uninspired-at-best campaign and, facing a challenger for the first time in 28 years, lost.
The voters had to be wrong, some County Board members seemed to indicate when they immediately considered offering Mitchell a $75,000-a-year, four-year consultant deal. Supposedly, he was the only person in the county qualified enough to negotiate health-insurance contracts. Never mind that newly elected County Attorney Melanie Ford offered to handle the responsibility, which clearly was under the purview of her and her staff.
Mitchell went away that time. But yesterday, still apparently unwilling to run county government without their man Mitchell, commissioners voted to name him interim county administrator. The current administrator, Dana Frey, isn't even gone yet. He leaves for a new job in Bosnia next month.
Mitchell was one of four candidates considered for the interim post -- and the most qualified, according to the commissioners who supported him. They hadn't planned to divulge the identities of the others, but in open discussions yesterday, the names emerged: former county Sheriff Gary Waller and deputy administrators Gary Eckenberg and Lisa Potswald.
Granted, Mitchell has extensive knowledge of the county, and he has strong management skills. But how he would be more qualified for the job than the current deputy administrators is a bit of a puzzler.
ADVERTISEMENT
Less puzzling is the political stress his presence back in the boardroom could provoke. And it's no puzzle at all that hiring Mitchell for the interim spot would cost more than temporarily elevating Eckenberg or Potswald, who already are on the payroll.
If the contract being negotiated with Mitchell comes anywhere near the about $130,000 he used to make as county attorney, it could be as if Mitchell never left, or as if he got the consultancy he was being considered for earlier.
And that's something that would seem to suit a few old-boy county commissioners just fine.
