Did Ricky Childers hypnotize Joe Tillotson and the Lancaster City Council?

Giving him $155,000 a year, well beyond what former City Manager Jim Landon was making, for a guy reportedly being pushed out the door at Longview, is pure crazyness.

Besides, Childers said “he wanted to come back to the Metroplex.” HELLO, City Council, you’re in a buyer’s market at that point. That’s just on the fact of him wanting to move to the Metroplex, let alone if its true that the Longview City Council was pushing him out the door. If you don’t recognize that, that’s not the best sign for your continued management of the city.

Well, if that’s what you really want, Joe, Carol, and others, and you’re dumb enough to pay that much, you got exactly what you deserve. Don’t expect me to write as much about Lancaster; time to distance my ties more.

Will the subprime collapse depress housing prices, especially in subprime-glutted suburbs?

It certainly could.

Until early 2006, the overheated lending market was pumping out money. Brokers competed to sell mortgages, and, in many cities, incentives to sell stoked home prices into double-digit yearly appreciation. Loans covering 100 percent of a home’s purchase price were not uncommon, with no down payment required. Borrowers, even with badly damaged credit, were breezing into lenders’ offices and emerging with loans that sometimes even locked them into paying more than they earned.

Now, “it’s back to the old-fashioned rules,” (Christopher) Cagan says. With less money available, and with fewer buyers and a glut of houses for sale, lenders are requiring detailed application forms and documents detailing finances and income.

Note a few words and phrases: “Overheated lending market” (that obviously needs to cool down); “double-digit yearly appreciation” (that isn’t sustainable now that the rug’s been pulled out); “glut of homes for sale” (which will remain unsold as part of a glut until prices are cut).

Boy, if I were a city manager (Ricky Childers in Lancaster), I wouldn’t be making noise about cutting people’s property taxes right now. The fact that you are reinforces the idea that the Lancaster City Council made a bad choice in naming you the new city manager.

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?

Potential new Lancaster city manager: sounds like a BIG mistake — fingerprinting your own city staff?

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

Pegasus News says it’s Ricky Childers.

He was Longview’s city manager for 7 years before becoming a consultant.

But, 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.

WTF 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 either on his own or through a government consultants’ group like Ron Holiefield’s over in DeSoto.

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?

But, maybe he was bored. NOT!

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