Kids, today we take a deep dive into Delaware Way cronyism. Dating back to 2017, featuring BHL and one of her political allies. The reward? Another job for which the crony was unqualified and was not required to go through a proper hiring process.
Let’s first start with Tanner Polce, who is but a footnote in today’s tale. He indeed has a job with the Brandywine Valley SPCA. Don’t worry, not directly with animals. He’s a PR flak. His title? Chief Advancement Officer. I think we can all agree that few agencies do better work than the Brandywine Valley SPCA. Our two cats would agree. The SPCA has been a national leader in driving toward no-kill shelters. In fact:
A big influence was consolidating animal control for dogs and humane law enforcement at the state level under the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare (OAW). In 2016, the BVSPCA was awarded a five-year, state-wide animal services contract by the OAW. The BVSPCA was the first contracted shelter to deliver no-kill life-saving, which it has sustained each year.
Patience, patience, I’m getting to my point–and I do have one.
The Delaware Office Of Animal Welfare was legislatively created in 2014. Sen. Patti Blevins, who served on the General Assembly Animal Welfare Task Force, sponsored the key bill.
In November of 2016, Sen. Blevins, who was President Pro-Tem at the time, lost her reelection bid to Anthony DelCollo. On November 14, 2016, she wrote the following on Facebook:
Over the last two years, I was proud to work with my dear friend and our next Lt. Governor, Bethany Hall-Long, to make real progress on mental health and substance abuse treatment in our state. I know Bethany will continue her focus on that area in her new role alongside Governor-elect John Carney.
We’re almost there. Blevins wasn’t out of a job long. On January 30, 2017, immediately following the installation of Carney and Bethany Hall-Long, Patti Blevins was handed the job of Director of the Office Of Animal Welfare:
In an interview Wednesday, Blevins, 62, said she plans to focus on evaluating the office’s policies and procedures, improve on local partnerships and examine the interactions between animal control officers and the community. She declined to be more specific, explaining that she needs to become more familiar with the organization.
Public Health Director Karyl Rattay, who was responsible for hiring Blevins, dismissed accusations of favoritism.
“We wanted the best and most qualified person for this position,” she said Wednesday. “No one knows the animal welfare landscape as well as Patti.”
‘The animal welfare landscape’.
In her new role, Blevins, 62 will earn a salary equivalent to her predecessor’s, totaling more than $84,000. That represents a 22 percent increase from her salary as the chamber’s highest-ranking member, she said. On top of that, Blevins will receive an annual state pension of roughly $34,000. Unlike most regular state employees, former elected officials who become state employees are entitled under law to pension payments in addition to their regular salaries, according to David Craik, state pension administrator.
This almost defines a sweetheart deal, one engineered at the highest levels of the Carney/Hall-Long administration. It’s not as if there weren’t a bleepload of qualified candidates:
State health officials said they conducted a national search to replace Brown, who announced her departure in October. The job posting for the animal welfare director position expired on Oct. 26, while Blevins was still campaigning for her Senate seat.
Rattay said she had “made contact” with 70 other candidates and was still actively recruiting for the position prior to her conversation with Blevins.
A national search. 70 candidates. A missed deadline. No problem: Patti needs a job. It stunk at the time.
She lasted something like five months.
This is not the only time that BHL has interceded on behalf of a former state legislator, in this next case, one who ‘fell upward’ after blatantly failing at a job that was created just for her.
But that’s a story for another day. And another episode of Bethany Beached.