stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-01 08:50 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-01 08:50 pm
Darwin's Job
Now that this is all settled, I can write about it publicly.
You can look it up in the papers, and the papers usually have chunks of it wrong. Here's what happened:
Darwin's police chief in Ypsilanti left, which meant Darwin had to hire someone new. He farmed out the initial selection process to a company that deals with such things. They winnowed through the applicants and turned a handful back to him for interviews. One of those was a lieutenant in the Ypsilanti Fire Department. The Ypsilanti city charter specifically prohibits the council from having input in hiring practices. That's the sole responsibility of the city manager. But more than once council member illegally let Darwin know they wanted the internal candidate as the new hire. The internal candidate, however, was absolutely not qualified for the job. He didn't have the required education background, and he additionally had failed to complete course work he had promised to do years earlier. Darwin also found irregularities in his application. Meanwhile, a candidate from Livonia applied who had the education, background, and experience the job required. Darwin offered him the job. He accepted and signed the contract.
The internal candidate was black. The Livonia candidate was white. The councilors who were pressing Darwin to hire the internal candidate were black.
The city council, in a hastily-called closed meeting, told Darwin that he could either resign or be fired. Officially, he resigned, but we all know it means they fired him.
Darwin and I were both extremely upset. The city I had lived in for twenty years and which Darwin had come to love had fired him for racist reasons. I've now become so angry at the council that I can't consider living in Ypsilanti again. It also ended our friendship with the city's mayor, who refused to stand up for Darwin. I can't stand the sight of her, and she should hang her head in shame.
However, Darwin negotiated a separation settlement from Ypsilanti. The council resisted at first, but in the end they knew that if Darwin sued them for discrimination and for violation of contract, they'd lose, and badly. So they handed it over.
Darwin started a job hunt right away. Several weeks went by, but he got no nibbles from the applications he sent out. He was getting worried that fallout from Ypsilanti was following him, despite the fact that he had fielded several phone calls from people in city management who told him flat-out that everyone in the municipal community knew Ypsilanti had treated him badly. I told him the lack of calls arose from it being summer time--too many people on vacation to get much done. Still, he worried.
In the meantime, he hung around the house. This was strangely difficult. I love Darwin deeply, but having him home every minute was strangely wearing. It did mean we could eat supper at a decent hour (Darwin often gets home after 7:00 PM, making it difficult to eat together), but he was a relentless presence around the house, and it wasn't something I was used to. I began to understand stay-at-home wives who spent their entire marriage alone during the day in an arrangement that made everyone happy until the husband retired and found himself not knowing what to do with himself all day at home. Such husbands are notorious for following their wives around like lost puppies, driving everyone nuts until a new equilibrium is established. Darwin didn't follow me around all summer, but he was indeed around all the time, and neither of us quite knew how to respond to that.
Darwin applied at some places in our general area. He also applied at places farther away, and even some that were out-of-state. One city in Connecticut expressed a great deal of interest in him as a candidate, and they were enthusiastic to the point that we were eyeing houses and working out logistics, and then suddenly all contact with them ended. Weeks and weeks went by. Nothing. They hadn't hired anyone else, either. (Several months later, they finally hired an internal candidate, but they still never contacted Darwin again.)
Our plan, if Darwin got a job far away, was that he would move to the new town and I would stay in Wherever until Max graduated, since he's in his senior year. Then I would take an early retirement, sell the house, and move out with him.
The summer passed slowly. I went on the exchange trip to Germany and returned. Still no interviews or offers. Right around the time Darwin was getting seriously unhappy, he got a call to interview in Albion.
More coming . . .
You can look it up in the papers, and the papers usually have chunks of it wrong. Here's what happened:
Darwin's police chief in Ypsilanti left, which meant Darwin had to hire someone new. He farmed out the initial selection process to a company that deals with such things. They winnowed through the applicants and turned a handful back to him for interviews. One of those was a lieutenant in the Ypsilanti Fire Department. The Ypsilanti city charter specifically prohibits the council from having input in hiring practices. That's the sole responsibility of the city manager. But more than once council member illegally let Darwin know they wanted the internal candidate as the new hire. The internal candidate, however, was absolutely not qualified for the job. He didn't have the required education background, and he additionally had failed to complete course work he had promised to do years earlier. Darwin also found irregularities in his application. Meanwhile, a candidate from Livonia applied who had the education, background, and experience the job required. Darwin offered him the job. He accepted and signed the contract.
The internal candidate was black. The Livonia candidate was white. The councilors who were pressing Darwin to hire the internal candidate were black.
The city council, in a hastily-called closed meeting, told Darwin that he could either resign or be fired. Officially, he resigned, but we all know it means they fired him.
Darwin and I were both extremely upset. The city I had lived in for twenty years and which Darwin had come to love had fired him for racist reasons. I've now become so angry at the council that I can't consider living in Ypsilanti again. It also ended our friendship with the city's mayor, who refused to stand up for Darwin. I can't stand the sight of her, and she should hang her head in shame.
However, Darwin negotiated a separation settlement from Ypsilanti. The council resisted at first, but in the end they knew that if Darwin sued them for discrimination and for violation of contract, they'd lose, and badly. So they handed it over.
Darwin started a job hunt right away. Several weeks went by, but he got no nibbles from the applications he sent out. He was getting worried that fallout from Ypsilanti was following him, despite the fact that he had fielded several phone calls from people in city management who told him flat-out that everyone in the municipal community knew Ypsilanti had treated him badly. I told him the lack of calls arose from it being summer time--too many people on vacation to get much done. Still, he worried.
In the meantime, he hung around the house. This was strangely difficult. I love Darwin deeply, but having him home every minute was strangely wearing. It did mean we could eat supper at a decent hour (Darwin often gets home after 7:00 PM, making it difficult to eat together), but he was a relentless presence around the house, and it wasn't something I was used to. I began to understand stay-at-home wives who spent their entire marriage alone during the day in an arrangement that made everyone happy until the husband retired and found himself not knowing what to do with himself all day at home. Such husbands are notorious for following their wives around like lost puppies, driving everyone nuts until a new equilibrium is established. Darwin didn't follow me around all summer, but he was indeed around all the time, and neither of us quite knew how to respond to that.
Darwin applied at some places in our general area. He also applied at places farther away, and even some that were out-of-state. One city in Connecticut expressed a great deal of interest in him as a candidate, and they were enthusiastic to the point that we were eyeing houses and working out logistics, and then suddenly all contact with them ended. Weeks and weeks went by. Nothing. They hadn't hired anyone else, either. (Several months later, they finally hired an internal candidate, but they still never contacted Darwin again.)
Our plan, if Darwin got a job far away, was that he would move to the new town and I would stay in Wherever until Max graduated, since he's in his senior year. Then I would take an early retirement, sell the house, and move out with him.
The summer passed slowly. I went on the exchange trip to Germany and returned. Still no interviews or offers. Right around the time Darwin was getting seriously unhappy, he got a call to interview in Albion.
More coming . . .