Back to the Good Ole' Boy Network

Back to the Good Ole' Boy Network

by Guest Contributor Phil Harmonic

Cheryl Clark of VITA has decided to retire as of June 30th. Or forced out. Or whatever definition VITA has given "retirement" this week. We all know how they love to change definitions or meaning of plain ordinary words.

Cheryl came to VITA at it's birth as Newstrom's golden child (or token woman, just as Belle Wheelen was his "blackberry picker" [his words not mine]). Either way, she was in line for the throne or at least had her strings attached from above, with Newstrom in place to pull them, but then the General Assembly didn't want Newstrom having that much power, so they cut the strings and dethroned him, along with Cheryl, for Lem.

So enter Lem, who was probably not too pleased with the old regime, and had to establish his own kingdom. A manly regime. A good ole' boy network back in place, just as God intended. Just like Lem never left DIT and had himself been dethroned previously. Sometimes you just have to wonder "What the heck was the General Assembly thinking!", but you could blog all day just based on that one question.

Anyway the point is, and I do have a point, is that why does the management of VITA seem not only salary-heavy at the top, but man-heavy at the top. I'm not saying that VITA does not have women employees, just female top higher management employees who aren't just tokens.

I guess this age-old discrimination goes hand-in-hand with their age discrimination. Oh, they called it going out into the agencies and snagging IT employees to go to Northrop Grummon, but I truly think it would be interesting to have the statistics on the age, sex, and number of years state service of those 830 employees going to NG.

But just like the wizard behind the curtain, in Lem's kingdom, his court jesters would tell us some other story.

About the Author
Phil Harmonic- A senior state employee who wishes to remain nameless for obvious reasons. Insiders have long since learned the hazards of whistleblowing.