I Met the Finalists
May 31 – I have traveled cross-country many times and I can tell you that there are two distinct ways to do so (other than means of travel, e.g. hitchhiking, riding the Dog (Greyhound bus), driving a VW Bus alone, driving a VW Bus with a friend, etc.). The first way is to carry a camera and record all sorts of things (or a phone for all you thoroughly modern Millies). The other way is to just experience it – no camera. I’m glad for the times I brought my camera, but I generally have a greater fondness for the trips I simply experienced (including getting arrested for armed robbery, but that’s another story that we need not get into here – though I can tell you it was a case of mistaken identity).
So tonight I went to the “Meet the Finalists” forum featuring the four finalists for Cambridge City Manager with no notepad for recording juicy quotes, slips of the tongue, profound observations – and I didn’t write down a single word. I did have a camera – but just for getting some serviceable headshots of the finalists (Iram Farooq, Cheryl Fisher, Yi-An Huang, and Norman Khumalo) since I had a hard time finding anything good on the Internets. I really just wanted to look into the faces of the candidates, listen to how they spoke (rehearsed vs. sincere), whether they exhibited any clear differences in perspective (they did), and simply let my instincts take over.
I do have a favorite among the finalists, but I’m going to refrain from telling you who that is until (maybe) after all is said and done. I will say that all four of these candidates are very qualified and would bring distinctly different experience, skills and personal qualities to the job.
The City Council will have a Special Meeting on Wed, June 1 starting at 6:00pm to “interview” these finalists, and they are expected to vote at yet another Special City Council meeting at 6:00pm on Mon, June 6 (likely interrupting their regular 5:30pm meeting for this purpose). There is no guarantee that 5 votes will be gathered on any one of these candidates at that meeting, so the process could see several ballots and maybe even additional meetings before a decision is made and the white smoke is released from the roof of City Hall. Honestly, I have no idea how this group of city councillors will come together to make this decision or what kind of wheeling and dealing may go on behind the scenes in order to reach a decision. Transparency is a great concept except when it isn’t. – RW
 Norman Khumalo |
 Yi-An Huang |
 Cheryl Fisher |
 Iram Farooq |