Jen, this post would be even more piquant if you'd add in that double-breasted blue blazer.

I am just saying.

Can we all agree that when it comes to the arts our local politicians have their hearts in the right place but nothing approaching logic?

Wasn't Brendan on the hiring committee? (Maybe I'm remembering that wrong.) What does he think?

Sadly, @2 for the Bacon-infused win.

McGinn is the Stranger's mayor and a Stranger staffer was on the committee who selected this guy. If he doesn't work out, is the Stranger at all responsible?

@ 3 and 5. Yes, I was on a hiring committee. Our job was to pick three names from the pool of applicants and forward them onto the mayor, who would make the final decision. I didn't discuss any part of that process with anyone at The Stranger, so the paper isn't responsible for anything.

Would you have even been on the hiring committee if you were just Brendan Kiley the Theater Lover and not Brendan Kiley the Stranger Staffer?

I think it's high time that the mayor's office be granted access to Google, don't you?

There is a bevy of talented, affordable, innovative arts leaders here in Seattle that could have stepped into this role and been faced with the challenge of changing an engrained system full of friends and associates.

Or, the mayor could've made a bold and interesting move to bring in someone with a sharp axe, a quick mind and no local ties that bind to remake the whole thing.

The concern is that he chose neither.

Ha! You gotta love Kiley's comment! So his job was to "pick 3 names from the pool." Sounds like he thinks his job was to "pick" as in "pick names out of a hat" or "pick his nose." He may not have taken his job seriously, but the choice of Vincent Kitch shows that at least the other members of the hiring committee took their job seriously and selected candidates with outstanding creditials.

So the Stranger's complaint about Mr. Kitch is that he is a bureaucrat? First, I don't think that working for the government automatically makes you a bureaucrat anymore than knowing how to swim makes you a fish. What evidence does the Stranger have of this dreaded condition - "bureaucrat?" For arguement's sake, let's say he is a bureaucrat -- who knows how to work within a bureaucracy better than a bureaucrat? Want to get something done? Hire experience. The Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs is a government office, not a non-profit, and the rules are different. We have all seen the dangers of having someone in a job with no experience. Remember, you have to know the rules in order to break them.

Finally, the Stranger went against all ethical standards by even allowing a staff member to participate in this process, but then that Stranger staffer also gets to gets to deny that he or the Stranger is in any way "responsible" for the selection? Geez -- get some balls and own your decision!!

@ 11. I'm not shying away from my part in the process of picking/choosing/selecting/whatever-verb-you-prefer-ing.

I'm just explaining it and explaining that The Stranger Hive-Mind(tm) had nothing to do with it.

As for your getting upset about "all ethical standards..." I don't know what to say. You must be new here.

@11
You must be new here; no one in this city has "ethical standards", especially The Stranger.