We herd a rumor and we hope it is not true. A prospective applicant for the Town Manager position advised us that she was not submitting an application because rumor had it that Susan George had already hand picked her successor. We doubt it is true. Peckham & McKenney is a respected firm and we sure hope they will use their independent judgment and not give undue weight to Susan’s recommendation. However, we sent Bobbi Peckham an email on May 24, asking about this rumor and have not received any response so we wonder…….

Peckham & McKenney has posted the position on its website with a very thorough job description. The website describes the ideal candidate as follows: “The ideal candidate will appreciate and embrace the unique characteristics of this rural community. He or she will be visible, accessible, approachable, and responsive. The Manager will possess strong interpersonal skills, effective listening and verbal communication skills, and have a good sense of humor. The Town Manager will work collaboratively with the community as a whole and bring an intelligent approach to the issues that face the Town.” This is not how we would describe Susan George. If the new Town Manager lives up to this description, we will be happy COWs.

The resume filing deadline is August 12th.

We verified that there is a rumor circulating which is discouraging some potential applicants. We sought assurance from the head hunter that it was not true before we went to print with the hope that we could dismiss the rumor to encourage applications but none was forthcoming. We have not received any denial of the rumor from any one. Therefore, it still is a rumor out there which we sincerely hope is not true. We want as large an applicant pool as possible to enable our Town to have a top notch Town Manager who will look take a fresh look at the issues facing this Town.

So you didn’t verify this BEFORE you published it and you haven’t removed it because no one denied it???

Brilliant logic.

Dear Anonymoous,

We wrote to Bobbi Peckham and asked her about the report before publishing it and she never responded. We had hoped that once this story was published that a strong denial would be forth coming which we could print. No denial has been forthcoming leaving us with nothing but our hope that the rumor is not true..
Sincerely,
Citizens of Woodside

If you really “doubt it is true,” why would you publish this report?