Lewis: Dover hiring practices could use tweaking

I would like to set the record straight regarding my decision to vote no on the appointment of a city controller/treasurer at the Oct. 28 regular Dover City Council meeting, since I have been asked by some of my constituents and am a firm believer of being transparent. Respectfully, I have nothing against the candidate selected for the position. But, in my personal view and opinion, I did not think the candidate was the best qualified for the position after I was partially involved in the interviewing process during the final phase. As with anyone else who took part in the final interview stage, I am entitled to my own opinion.

Personally, I feel we need to enhance and improve the hiring process. As I see it, we should make sure the city follows an inclusive hiring practice. As I stated earlier, I was only part of the controller/treasurer hiring process during the final phase.

The first interview panel consisted of four council members. In my opinion, this should be changed to allow all council members to take part in that phase. That way, everyone has a chance to screen all the applications and interview all the candidates and review their individual merits, to include skills, qualifications and suitability for the job, before a final interview takes place, which usually results in a decision to hire a particular person. This way, we can all have our own observations of the candidates who applied.

In closing, I believe that, sometimes, our past practices are not always the best practices.

Brian E. Lewis

2nd District Dover city councilman

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.