Stewart burning both ends of candle
These are reasonable questions: A year ago, two high-powered, full-time county officials held two jobs. Today, one high-powered, full-time county official does both. How? Are some tasks now left undone? Was there gross inefficiency before? Why did we pay $62.50 per hour for work that now costs only $24?
Ron Stewart has been a Boulder County commissioner since the late Jurassic. Six weeks ago, his two commissioner colleagues chose him to succeed Carolyn Holmberg, the popular parks and open space director who died last fall. Stewart stays on as commissioner while leading an $11 million department. He will excuse himself from commissioner votes relating to parks and open space, but he would draw only his former annual salary of $50,000, not Holmberg's $80,000.
The ensuing debate has been brittle. The commissioners say appointing one of themselves to run a department that they oversee is sensible, and it may be. But they imply that skeptics must be motivated solely by politics or ignorance. And some county critics carry sequoias on their shoulders. At their most polite, critics cast the appointment as "corrupt."
Sheesh. Is there no middle ground? Ron Stewart may be the Bill Gates of open space, but isn't it reasonable to ask sharp questions about this cozy deal? Conversely, Stewart's appointment may be unusual, but isn't it possible that it is both wise and optimal?
Of course. So why doesn't public debate reflect this? That's how debate goes, Stewart says. But does he see why people are worried? "I do understand," because it's an unusual arrangement. But such arrangements can work. When Stewart was in the state Senate, Roy Romer served both as state treasurer and the governor's chief of staff.
Stewart's experiment will fly or fall. Six weeks into it, he says it flies. He spends Mondays and Fridays in the parks and open space office. He spends other days in the commissioners' offices or hearing room.
Since Holmberg died, Stewart has worked to buy new land, and now he also manages the department's 100-member staff. As a commissioner, he manages department heads. As a department head, he manages a staff. That's a heap of brain-killing, soul-selling management. How can it work? "Management is a job of delegation. ... A lot of the stuff that I do doesn't take as long as it did 15 years ago."
For instance, Stewart says, he still returns his phone calls. "I pay attention to everything today that I did before." And even before Holmberg's death, he says, there was "considerable overlap" between their jobs.
But some conspiracy theorists fret that Stewart is plotting a gambit: The supposed scenario is that Stewart runs for office in 2000 and wins a final term as commissioner. Shortly after being elected, he steps down as commissioner, ensuring that the Democrats can appoint one of their own, and easing Stewart into the lucrative leadership of county open space.
Last month, Boulder Weekly columnist Wayne Laugesen asked Stewart about this. Stewart said he wasn't thinking that far ahead. A four-eyed simp posing as a Camera columnist asked the same question this week. Stewart again said he had not decided whether to run again. But he disavowed any nefarious plan. "I would not step down if I ran again." Glad to hear it.
Stewart says that if he or if his colleagues think it's not working, "I'll quit." Also good to hear.
Bottom line: Citizens must watch Stewart labor in both jobs, to ensure that both get done. If Stewart's bitten off too much, if he doesn't keep his word, we must say so in November 2000. Stewart's double duty means more work for him. And us.
Reach Clint Talbott at (303) 473-1367 or talbottc@boulderpublishing.com.
July 10, 1999
Copyright © 1999 The Daily Camera.
Reprinted with permission.
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Last updated January 24, 2002.
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