Councilwoman Verna Responds

Before I left Philadelphia for Venezuela, I wrote a letter to the President of City Council – Anna Verna – about the injustice, as I saw it, of her decision to appoint a person with no college degree or experience in the field to the position of Director of the Veteran Advisory Office. (See my March 1 post. The original article that impelled my letter can be found here: http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAR08/nf030108-3.htm)
Councilwoman Verna kindly responded to me with her own letter (forwarded by my dad), the full text of which I pasted below. It’s a thorough and thoughtful response – not what I expected -- but now I can’t say why I didn’t expect it! (Maybe our city reps are more capable than I imagine, in my cynical ‘politicians-are-plastic-trash’ mind.)
It’s notable that the Veterans’ Advisory committee is not a city department, but reports to the City Council President’s Office (i.e., to Verna’s office). Also germane is that fact that her office did not establish or advertise ‘qualifications’ for the position
Perhaps, indeed, Verna has simply appointed a person she knows and trusts to a position that will report to her. Who knows her exact motivations?
I maintain that she made a bad decision in this case – most likely caused by previous connections to Edgar Howard. However, if she’s the ‘boss’ hiring an ‘employee,’ it’s her right to pick whom she deems the best fit for the job. It’s unfortunate that someone with an advanced degree and vast experience in this field was overlooked because of person connections. I feel like this sort of spirit has dominated Philly politics (and other places) for decades, and that’s what upsets me –the city suffers because of it.
Of course, I don’t have access to the whole truth here. For instance, Verna claims that the Veteran Advisory Commission recommended Howard for the job, but Kekstra’s article says it pegged him for the deputy job. Furthermore, how does one explain the Commission’s outrage if she simply “chose one of two candidates recommended” by them?