UPDATED: Matt Kline Fired (Surprised?)

As Richard Koonce said:

How can you trust any past decision made by Matt Kline regarding personnel?

For people who have been watching the city government, are the latest happening regarding Kline any big surprise?  (They shouldn't be!)

As the woman who spoke on behalf of the Inter Denominational Ministerial Alliance said:  Their report on the Murman report is now being "manifested."     You'll recall that Kim Nuesse was brought in to fight the racial problems in the Sandusky police department - and now some are drawing attention to the Nuesse timeline to use as a backdrop to demonstrate how troubling Matt Kline's conduct really was/is.  In the context of the city's recent history, Matt Kline's conduct is more than troubling.

One of the guiding principles I've tried to use on this blog is to say things that needed to be said - not to pontificate, bloviate, or repeat things unnecessarily.  Since Kline is now fired, no more commentary on the situation is really necessary - but I would like to point out that Kline's comments and behavior have always been divisive.  This is not a new phenomenon, so for people who are acting surprised by this:  open your eyes.   Kline's decisions were based purely on politics because of his unwillingness to be disliked inside his organization for making tough decisions.  The city needs leaders who have the fortitude to make tough decisions but also the ability to defend those decisions with stable logic when they are questioned.  Kline was equipped to do neither.

Matt Kline's handling of the Nuesse situation should've given everyone pause - especially those who are directly involved with city affairs.  He conducted himself not as a public servant, but as someone driven by the desires of those around him.   City officials are supposed to carry out their duties in the best interests of city residents.  With that in mind,  it's tough to see how Kline's employment by the city benefited anyone but Matt Kline - and that's not how public business works.

Now that a tumor has been removed:

Citizens of Sandusky will be much prouder when the cancer of unprofessionalism, disrespect, and exclusionist attitudes are removed from the city because those qualities are the real cancer that pressured Matt Kline to make the decisions he did.  That's the real lesson that needs to be learned.

UPDATE:  There's a good laugh hidden on the 2nd page of John Eymann's defense of Matt Kline: