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Thursday, February 17, 2005

Ind. Gov't. - Daniels' thick skin gets pinched in early going

Occasional Indianapolis Star columnist, and former editorial page editor Andrea Neal had a great opinion piece yesterday, headlined "Daniels' thick skin gets pinched in early going." She points out that criticism of Daniels "has been of two types, the first fully anticipated by Daniels in response to difficult decisions and priority setting that had to occur in the face of a $600 million deficit." She continues:

But the second type of criticism caught Daniels and Co. off guard. And it's resulted from political blunders that could have been avoided had administration officials known the principles of Communication 101.

Two examples: the publicly aired disappointment of state board and commission members who received terse letters from Daniels' staff requesting their resignations when they deserved gracious thank-you notes; and the dismay of Hoosiers to learn their new governor -- My Man Mitch during the campaign -- had no plans to live in the state-provided governor's residence, but was about to build a multimillion-dollar home in a gated Carmel subdivision. At one point, Chief of Staff Harry Gonso said selling the North Meridian Street governor's home was a possibility.

If tone is important, timing is everything. Both incidents displayed insensitivity to those basic principles of communication. * * *

All of the criticism is predictable for an administration that is both inexperienced at the subtle points of governing and committed to bold decision-making. Daniels himself said he would make mistakes along the way. The alternative, as Hoosiers recognized in November, is status-quo leadership that dares nothing so as not to fail. * * *

It's been a rough start, but important lessons have been learned. The aide's pre-inaugural advice holds as true today as it did in early January. Keep a thick skin, and stay focused on mission.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 17, 2005 02:58 PM
Posted to Indiana Government