Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Heck of a Guy

I've been mulling over the sudden resignation of Publics Work Director Guy Costa over the last week.

Let me step back for a minute though. A couple months ago on NPR a high ranking Federal Official (I can't recall which) offhandedly remarked that there are two reasons why a High Ranking Public Official would resign, outside of personal emergencies or a better job. The first is a major organizational defeat for the official; the second is a string of minor defeats for the official.

My sense is that Guy resigned for the second reason. With council pressure, a declining budget, Act 47 oversight, and the demands of the 3-1-1 line, Guy was spread pretty thin. The very public reprimand and suspension because of the actions of some underlings was pretty embarassing and was probably the final nail in the coffin.

I can imagine Guy waking up one morning thinking, "What the fuck am I doing?"

With the number of friends (and relatives) that he has in high places, Guy doesn't really have to worry about landing on his feet. Maybe he'll sleep better too.

10 comments:

MH said...

I prefer to think he found the perfect pothole and decided to leave on a high note.

Anonymous said...

There was no way for Guy to win here. He became a casualty of the current politics. The current administration believes it is proper to trash well respected people all over the media, attempting to destroy peoples name and careers, while deflecting any responsibility for the situations at hand. Difficult to do a perfect job in imperfect circumstances.

Because of his connections you would have thought he (Guy) did not have to work that much, but that was not the case with him. Guy was very hands on, and I personally wish him well.

I am sure he will be better off not dealing with the current situation, luckily for him, other options are probably available.

MH said...

Costa must have actually paved Anon's street. Mine hasn't seen so much as a patch since Murphy took the city down the tube.

Anonymous said...

MH - Costa was not in charge of political paving. Those decision came from on High.

Which was probably another reason for him to quit - rather than being allowed to fix the problems, he had to fix things that weren't really broken in order to deliver votes that weren't really needed.

MH said...

Two choices:

1. Luke appointed one non-political, capable bureaucrat and it was just coincidental that half his family appears of the ballot somewhere.

2. Costa is just another machine hack.

Anonymous said...

MH,
1st. Costa never paved anon's street. I assume he was never ordered to do so because no politicians live on my street.

2nd. Hack maybe, but he did the job that he was ordered to do and then some. He was in the street all of the time, when camera's were not on, maybe, because you didn't see him at every political snapshot opportunity, is why you feel the way you do.

I only wish that were the case with many other political hires. Faces on the news, and nothing of substance behind the face.

MH said...

That's not it as I don't watch the TV news and have no idea who is at the political photo ops. I assume everyone is who isn't public opposed to Luke is corrupt.

Mark Rauterkus said...

Or, blame the brain cancer.

Guy has been around the block. He served three mayors, at least. Moving on is fine.

O said...

Yeah, everyone I've talked to and every time I've worked with him (both personally and professionally) he really seems to care about his job. My guess is that having some real connections meant that he didn't have to deal with all the political bullshit.

Which brings up a good question: who told Luke to smack around a Costa? Captain McClosky? The Turk? Tataglia?

MH said...

Maybe I am a bit too suspicious at times.