SocraticGadfly: Now official: Lancaster has a Nixonian city manager

March 15, 2007

Now official: Lancaster has a Nixonian city manager

I CANNOT believe the city actually hired this Ricky Childers, given this background:

When you’re getting called “Ricky Childish” and “City Mangler,” you ain’t universally popular, or close to it, and probably with good reason


First, isn't it a step down to go from a city the size of Longview to one the size of Lancaster? Of course it is, and, Mayor Tillotson and Childers, let's not lie about that or otherwise spin it?

But, if it a step down, then why is Childers "stepping down"?

First of all, this HUGE and "Nixonian" OOOOPPPPS! Fingerprinting your own city staff in Longview???
Sources say in March of 2000, while serving as the city manager of Longview, Childers ordered a number of city employees and department heads to undergo fingerprinting by the Longview police department. Why? Childers reportedly received a letter critical of his administration. He called the police who found a fingerprint on the letter. Childers then ordered certain city employees be fingerprinted to see if they had written the letter. Reached by phone, Childers refused to comment.


What the hell are you doing??

At about 55 years old, he sounds like he would want to remain a consultant; if he wanted to move to Dallas, I would think he could pick up consulting gigs.

If it walks, talks and quacks like a duck slumming downward, it probably is. That is proof No. 1.

Also, according to this online newspaper/bulletin board, several people thought he was stiffing Longview police on pay scale/salary. The Longview City Council also allegedly hired him as a consultant, plus gave him six months’ severance, rather than go through the work of firing him.

Given the above, this doesn’t AT ALL sound surprising.

A selected comment:
Rickey Childish and A.J. "Gomer" Key abolished the Community Policing program because of the political power the citizen groups possessed. If it wasn't the brainchild of Childish or Gomer, it wasn't going to exist in this City. If it meant answering to the citizens, Childish wasn't going to stand for it. Now we're all paying for it!

Joe, Carol, anybody else on the Lancaster City Council want to comment?

NO, THEY DON'T. At least not Carol. I e-mailed her a week ago when I first heard about this possibility. No response yet.

I wonder who else was on the list of finalists, too. Were they even worse?

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