Williams vetted out of sight

To the Editor:

I looked forward to watching the Aug. 14 Cleveland Heights City Council hearing with city administrator nominee Danny Williams. Williams had already reached out to individual members of council, which I saw as positive a first step toward building working relationships with them.

The hearing, however, turned out to be barely even pro forma. Since private one-on-one meetings with Williams gave council members a chance to query him, only one asked him any questions in this public setting. Thus, what seemed like a good idea in effect deprived residents of a window on the vetting process.

This unintended consequence could have been avoided by having council members repeat their questions to Williams on-camera during the hearing. The public would then have gained insight into both council concerns and Williams' expectations regarding the job.